Passengers on board a flight from Johannesburg spent 10 hours in the air before landing at their point of departure after Niger suddenly closed its airspace.
Niger’s military leaders have taken over the country in a coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
In response to a threat of military action from West African nations, the junta closed the nation’s airspace around midday yesterday (NZT), the BBC reports.
Airspace over Sudan and Libya is already closed to commercial flights.
The move came as several flights from South Africa to the UK were already in the air.
It saw a British Airways flight from Johannesburg to Heathrow turn back as it was over Chad – meaning a 10-hour journey for passengers without reaching their destination.
Other flights turned back hours into their journeys, while others stopped to refuel in Lagos, Nigeria, the Independent reports.
“We’ve apologised to those customers affected for the disruption to their journeys,” BA said in a statement.
“Our teams are working hard to get them on their way again as quickly as possible.”
BBC
