Coup in Niger - EW Discover had to postpone two Namibia flights

Hundreds of Namibia holidaymakers waited in vain to board their flights in Frankfurt and Windhoek yesterday. The press office of Eurowings Discover (discover airlines) informed Namibian.org that two flights had to be postponed due to the closed airspace over Niger.

One flight from Frankfurt to Windhoek, which should have taken place on Wednesday, was affected. It was postponed until yesterday for other reasons. However, the plane could not take off because by then Niger had closed its airspace in the wake of the military coup. A flight from Windhoek to Frankfurt had been postponed for the same reason.

In the meantime, Eurowings Discover has found a new route for its Namibia flights, which runs via Mali. Yesterday evening, the planes had taken off from Frankfurt as well as from Windhoek, the press office stressed. However, the flight time would probably be extended by an estimated 35 minutes in each case.

Graphics showing two different routes were circulating on social media. According to these, the Frankfurt - Windhoek flight went via Mali. The return flight Windhoek - Frankfurt, however, went via East Africa and allegedly took almost two hours longer than normal. However, the second route has not yet been confirmed by Eurowings Discover. 

Alternate routes due to the closed airspace over Niger extend the flights of Eurowings Discover (discover airlines) between Frankfurt and Windhoek. The route via East Africa has not yet been confirmed by Eurowings Discover.  Photos: Posted on Social Media 

The Lufthansa subsidiary is in the process of distinguishing itself from its sister company Eurowings and renaming itself discover airlines (see report on Namibian.org).