The Belgian airline, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, has announced the interruption of its connection to Angola due to the closure of theairspace from Niger.
Brussels Airlines served Angola twice a week thanks to a triangular flight which linked Brussels to Kinshasain the DRC, and in Luanda, in Angola. This triangular flight is therefore transformed into a direct flight between Brussels and Kinshasa in order to save fuel and shorten flight time for crew members and passengers.
The closure of Niger’s airspace has forced airlines to make detours. flights to 12 routes are modified and extended to avoid Niger. On the outward and return journeys, these impacted flights could take between 1 hour and 3.5 hours more to reach their destination. In addition, they might also have to do a stopover to refuel fuel.
The measure will be evaluated weekly and will last at least until August 26. A “ very small portion of passengers” will be impacted by the cancellation of flights to Luanda. This measure only concerns two weekly flights, with 30 passengers per flight, Brussels Airlines said in an email. She added that affected passengers will be offered another flight to Luanda by Lufthansa and Frankfurt Airport.
