Niger bans French aircraft from its airspace: aviation authority

Niger's military rulers have banned "French aircraft" from flying over the country's airspace, according to the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar website.

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," it said in the statement dated late Saturday.

The air space would remain closed for "all military, operational and other special flights", unless receiving prior authorization, the message said.

Air France told AFP simply that it was "not flying over Niger airspace".

Niger reopened its airspace on September 4 for commercial flights after having been closed for nearly a month.

The West African nation then announced on 6 August that it was closing its airspace due to the "threat of intervention from neighboring 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.

France has repeatedly supported the West African bloc, and relations between Paris and Niamey have been at an all-time low since the coup.