Analysis of how another West African nation is benefited by shutdown of Niger airspace

The shutdown of Niger’s airspace has caused a notable increase in the volume of flights utilizing Ghana’s airspace.

Since the military regime’s closure of Niger’s airspace on August 6, 2023, an analysis by AviationGhana of real-time flight data from Flightradar24 reveals that numerous European airlines have altered their flight paths to include Accra, Ghana, as a stopover on routes to key travel markets like Nigeria and other nations in Central and Southern Africa.

Mr. Francis Armah Mensah, President of the Ghana Air Traffic Controllers Association (GHATCA), confirmed this development to AviationGhana.

“The closure of the Nigerien Airspace is having an impact on the Accra Flight Information Region. We have more traffic routing our airspace now than ever. The situation has increased the workload on Air Traffic Controllers. In terms of revenue, it will boost our revenue,” Mr. Mensah said.

The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the regulator of the aviation sector, is poised to benefit from overflight charges.

For operators not conducting flights into Ghana, a scheduled overflight costs US$150 (per single request). Similarly, all non-scheduled flights passing through Ghana’s airspace are required to obtain a permit at least 72 hours before the intended flight date and pay the same fee.

The current closure of Niger’s airspace exacerbates flight difficulties across Africa, given that Sudan and Libya are designated “no-fly” zones for international flights due to instability in those regions.

The necessity to divert and reroute flights, especially those between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, has led to extended flight durations and heightened expenses for airlines.

To illustrate, an additional hour of travel time on a Boeing 777 translates to an extra consumption of 3,500 to 4,000 gallons of aviation fuel for the journey.

With today’s fuel price at US$1.993 per gallon, this results in an added expense ranging from US$6,975 to US$7,972 for airlines. These costs could potentially be passed on to passengers, leading to higher airfares.