Air France’s largest pilots’ union called on its members to “exercise their right to refuse” flights to Bamako due to the unsafe situation in Mali.
For its part, the airline, which operates a daily service between Paris and Bamako, said that “at this stage, service to the capital of Mali remains unchanged.”
The union’s announcement comes at a time when the US Air Traffic Control Agency (FAA) recently warned of an “increased risk” of commercial aviation flying into and over Mali “at all altitudes.”
“Mali is the scene of hostilities, extremist activity, deteriorating law and order, a growing foreign military presence and the introduction of a sophisticated air defense system,” the FAA explained in a message that accompanied the “air mission notice.” (Note) posted February 23.
In those documents, published this week by the French newspaper Les Echos, the FAA mentioned, in particular, the installation of SA-22 Pantsir batteries by the Russian Wagner mercenary group, capable of hitting a target at a distance of 36 kilometers at an altitude of 15 kilometers.
Commercial aircraft in cruise flight operate at an altitude of about 12 kilometers.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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