French aircraft ipinagbawal ng Niger sa kanilang airspace
An Air France Airbus A320 takes off from Toulouse-Blagnac airport on February 10, 2015 / Pascal Pavani, AFP
Ipinagbawal ng mga pinuno ng militar ng Niger ang “French aircraft” na lumipad sa himpapawid ng bansa.
Sa isang pahayag ay nakasaad sa website ng Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar ( ASECNA), “Niger’s airspace is ‘open to all national and international commercial flights except for French aircraft or aircraft chartered by France,’ including those of the airline Air France.”
Dagdag pa ng mensahe, “The air space would remain closed for ‘all military, operational and other special flights,’ unless receiving prior authorisation.”
Simple namang sinabi ng Air France na “hindi sila lilipad sa himpapawid ng Niger.”
Noong Setyembre 4 ay muling binuksan ng Niger ang kanilang himpapawid para sa commercial flights, makaraan iyong isara ng halos isang buwan.
Una nang inihayag ng West African nation noong August 6, “We will be closing our airspace due to the ‘threat of intervention from neighbouring countries,’ as the Economic Community of West African States threatened military action to restore the elected President Mohamed Bazoum who had been overthrown in a coup on July 26.”
Paulit-ulit na sinusuportahan ng France ang West African bloc, at ang relasyon sa pagitan ng Paris at Niamey ay lumamig na simula nang mangyari ang kudeta.
