Mali: Air France permanently closes its doors in Bamako

Air France announced the permanent closure of its local representation in Mali effective June 30, 2026, according to correspondence dated June 15 and revealed by Agence France-Presse. The letter, signed by the country director, Awa Traoré Diakité, is addressed to the local commercial partner of the company, ATS. Air France did not specify the reasons for this decision.

The closure ends several decades of direct operational presence in Bamako. Services for travel agencies and passengers will be transferred to a centralized online platform of the Air France-KLM group. No information has been provided regarding the number of local employees affected or any planned support measures.

Air France suspended all its flights to the three Sahelian capitals on August 7, 2023: Bamako (seven weekly frequencies), Ouagadougou (five), and Niamey (four), after the closure of Niger’s airspace following the coup d’état on July 26, 2023. Two months later, the Malian transitional authorities had not authorized the resumption of the Bamako route. The local representation, deprived of its main commercial activity, has since functioned only as a residual administrative structure.

A Sovereign Choice

The decision by Air France comes amid a contraction of air links between Europe and Mali. Corsair, the only French airline still operating flights to Bamako, suspended its services on May 27, at least until June 26, following coordinated attacks by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) even in the Malian capital. Since April 30, several terrorist organizations have imposed a roadblock around Bamako, leading a dozen land transport companies to halt their services.

In April, France urged its citizens in Mali to leave the country via available flights. Turkish Airlines remains one of the few international airlines maintaining a service to Bamako, via Istanbul, alongside regional carriers.

The closure of Air France’s office is part of a broader disengagement of French economic operators in Mali since the coups d’état of 2020 and 2021. Diplomatic relations between Paris and Bamako have sharply deteriorated, with the transitional authorities demanding the withdrawal of French military forces and denouncing several cooperation agreements. This air break extends those already observed in Burkina Faso and Niger, where Air France has not resumed its flights since August 2023.