With Russia off-limits and a new 2,500-mile ‘no-fly zone’ across Africa, global airspace hasn’t been this restricted since the Cold War
At around midnight on Sunday, in the darkness at 35,000 feet, a number of aircraft flying above Africa made a sudden 180-degree turn.
Niger’s military junta had sent out the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) that the country’s airspace had closed, impact immediate. Any attempts to fly over the country would be met with an “energetic and immediate response.”
British Airways flight BA64 from Nairobi to Heathrow was one of the planes in the air at the time, and Yana Penrose was on board. She said that most of the passengers were asleep at 3am when the captain made an announcement.
“Ladies and gentlemen, you may have noticed that we have been going in the wrong direction for the last two hours,” the pilot said. He told passengers that while approaching Niger he received the notice that its airspace had closed, so he had to turn the plane around and return to Nairobi.