UN Official Reveals Why Flight From Nairobi To London Was Forced To Turn Back

Neil Walsh, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Head of Mission and Regional Representative to East Africa, lamented on Monday, August 7 the circumstances that forced a flight he boarded from Nairobi, Kenya to London in the United Kingdom (UK) turn back mid-air.

In a statement he shared on Twitter, Walsh revealed that he was cleared to fly to Belfast in Northern Ireland, though to get there, he would have to go through London's Heathrow Airport following a direct flight from Nairobi.

However, as the British Airways flight to London approached the airspace of Niger, it was forced to turn back and land at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Monday morning, having departed during the late hours of Sunday, August 6.

Walsh added that he and the rest of the passengers were forced to stay inside the plane for at least one hour before disembarking.

Collage of Neil Walsh onboard a plane from Nairobi to London and details of the flight that was turned back on August 6, 2023. /TWITTER.NEIL WALSH

"So…I was cleared to fly to Belfast. But as the flight approached Niger the airspace was shut.

"7 hours into the journey and I’ve just landed back in Nairobi where we have to stay on the plane for at least an hour before deplaning. And there’s no British Airways plan," he stated.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience caused, Neil. Send us your booking reference via DM along with your full name and contact details. We may need to ask you a few more questions for data protection," British Airways responded.

Walsh's sentiments were corroborated by CNN International correspondent, Larry Madowo, who attributed the move by airlines to divert to their point of destination to that one of Niger to close its airspace.

Spot checks by Viral Tea on flight BA 64, via Flight Aware, an international aviation surveillance system, revealed that the flight was forced to turn back just before leaving the Uganda border.

The move came after Niger’s coup leaders late on Sunday closed the country’s airspace after rejecting an ultimatum from West African states to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum or risk military intervention, with Flightradar 24, another flight tracking website, showing no aircraft over the airspace.

Tens of thousands of coup supporters gathered at a stadium in Niger’s capital, Niamey, to cheer on the generals who seized power – or the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP).

Amadou Abdramane, a spokesman for the CNSP, cited the threat of military intervention from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the airspace closure.

“In the face of the threat of intervention, which is becoming clearer through the preparation of neighbouring countries, Niger’s airspace is closed from this day on Sunday...for all aircraft until further notice,” he said in a statement read out on national television.

Abdramane said there had been a pre-deployment of forces in two Central African countries in preparation for intervention, but did not give details.

“Niger’s armed forces and all our defence and security forces, backed by the unfailing support of our people, are ready to defend the integrity of our territory,” he added.

The coup in Niger on July 26 is the seventh in West and Central Africa in three years. It has rocked Africa’s Sahel region, which is battling armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) and is among one of the poorest areas in the world.

ECOWAS condemned the coup, imposing severe economic and travel sanctions, including cutting off Niger’s power supply. The bloc’s defence chiefs agreed on a possible military action plan, including when and where to strike if the country’s detained leader is not released and reinstated by Sunday.

ECOWAS at the time of publishing this article did not say what its next steps would be or when exactly on Sunday its deadline expires.

Flightradar 24 in its blog post revealed that the closure of Niger’s airspace dramatically widens the area over which most commercial flights between Europe and southern Africa cannot fly, with flights already having to make detours between Libya and Sudan.

A screengrab of the Northern Africa airspace with Niger, Libya and Sudan airspaces closed. /FLIGHTRADAR 24

Sudan’s current ban on flights went into effect in late July, but the airspace has been effectively closed since mid-April 2023 when two factions of the country’s military government escalated to armed conflict. Multiple European countries, including Germany, France, and the UK, as well as the US and Canada, prohibit their civil aircraft from operating in Libyan airspace (the Tripoli FIR).

With Niger’s airspace now off limits as well, airlines flying between Europe and southern Africa will need to reroute and add 1,000 or more extra kilometres to their flights, increasing the amount of fuel each flight will need and the flight time, a move that might lead to more flight delays.