While we have seen some airlines around the globe operating near-empty planes that serve no other purpose than to protect valuable airport slots, Mali has announced that it has given airlines three days to confirm they will continue flights to the country or lose their landing slots after several carriers suspended services in response to sanctions being imposed on the country’s military-led government.
“After this deadline, their time slots will be handed to other airlines, in order to assure continued services,” Mali’s Transport Minister Madina Sissoko Dembele said in a statement.
This comes as regional carriers, including Air Cote d’Ivoire, Air Senegal, and Air France suspended flights to Mali’s capital Bamako indefinitely this week after the West Africa’s main political bloc ordered its members to close their borders with Mali.
The deadline applies from Saturday and follows the imposition of sanctions by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The trade embargo also included the suspension of non-essential financial transactions, that were issued in response to a proposal by Mali’s transitional government to delay democratic elections originally scheduled for February by up to four years.
Mali underwent a military coup in August 2021 which ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Photo via @eways-aviation
