taxi, please
The French carrier will close its Bamako office on 30 June, three years after suspending flights to Mali amid a sharp worsening of ties between France and Sahel military regimes.
By
AFP
A Malian soldier stands in front of an Air France plane at the Bamako airport on March 29, 2012. © Issouf Sanogo/AFP
Published
on June 18, 2026
at
15:30 pm (GMT +1)
Air France has announced that it will permanently close its local office in Mali, where the French airline has not flown since 2023 because of the geopolitical situation in the Sahel, according to a letter seen by AFP on 17 June.
“Air France’s local office will cease operations from 30 June 2026,” says the letter, dated 15 June. It does not give reasons for the decision.
Air France, the main airline linking France and Africa, suspended flights to Bamako – seven a week – Ouagadougou – five a week – and Niamey – four a week – on 7 August 2023 after Niger closed its airspace. The closure followed the coup there on 26 July 2023.
Two months after the suspension, Mali’s ruling junta had not authorised Air France to resume its Bamako route.
Air traffic reshaped
After military takeovers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger between 2020 and 2023, relations between France and the new sovereigntist authorities sharply worsened.
The geopolitical shift has reshaped air traffic. Air France’s departure in 2023 was initially offset by Turkish Airlines and the French carrier Corsair.
Corsair, which was still operating flights between Paris and Bamako, suspended “flights to and from Bamako up to and including 26 June 2026” on 27 May after coordinated attacks by jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), including in the capital, Bamako.