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Mali, Burkina, Niger… The end of a golden age for Air France?

By Nelly Fualdes

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Posted on September 8, 2023 10:02

An Air France Airbus A320 departing from Paris’ Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, October 27, 2015.
An Air France Airbus A320 departing from Paris’ Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, October 27, 2015. © Christian Hartmann/REUTERS

By leaving Bamako in a hurry, the French airline has incurred the wrath of the local authorities. With services to several African destinations suspended, competitors are already lying in wait.

More than 10,000 seats in August 2022, less than 5,000 the following year. For Air France, the suspension of flights between Paris and Bamako, in effect since 7 August, is far from painless, and for good reason.

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