An Air Côte d’Ivoire aircraft left Abidjan on Tuesday 28 May 2024, bound for Niamey at 12:55pm (GMT, local time), an official from the airline told APA while requesting anonymity.
Air Côte d’Ivoire had announced the resumption of its flights to Niamey on Saturday 2 March 2024, following the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Niger by ECOWAS and UEMOA, but the service did not resume due to a lack of authorisation.
The airline has undertaken to operate seven flights a week, which should boost trade between the two West African countries. Niger has a large number of its nationals in Côte d’Ivoire.
The management of Air Côte d’Ivoire suspended its flights in August 2023 after the Ivorian government called for all commercial and financial transactions with Niger to be halted, in accordance with the sanctions imposed by Ecowas.
Heads of state of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), meeting in Abuja on 24 February 2024, decided to lift the sanctions against Niger with ‘immediate effect’ on humanitarian grounds, opening the country’s borders to transactions.
Air Côte d’Ivoire welcomed an Airbus A319 on 21 May 2024 and is due to welcome a second aircraft “in a few weeks,” reaffirming its desire to increase its flight frequencies in the sub-region.
AP/fss/as/APA