The first consequences of Algeria’s decision to close its airspace to French military planes heading to the Sahel are starting to be felt.
The decision was taken on October 2, as well as the recall of the Algerian ambassador to Paris, the same day that the newspaper Le Monde revealed the remarks made two days earlier by President Emmanuel Macron with regard to Algeria.
The latter came at the worst time for the French army, having coincided with a large relief carried out by the command and which concerned six units engaged in Operation Barkhane. By being forced to bypass Algerian territory, French army planes see their flight time lengthened and consume greater quantities of kerosene.
“Today, the duration of each rotation towards the Sahelo-Sahelian belt has been extended from 2 hours to 2 hours and a half. To keep the payload offered by the A400Ms, we are making a stopover in Dakar ”, confirmed the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Stéphane Mille, in a response to a question from the President. of the Senate Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, reports opex360.com
This extension of the distance and the flight time has an additional cost of “several million euros”, according to the French soldier.
On October 3, the spokesperson for the army staff, Colonel Pascal Ianni, indicated that the Algerian decision “does not affect the course or the conduct of operations”. “We are adapting and we have no worries about operations,” he said, quoted by Le Figaro.
“We no longer have to cooperate …”
But other sources quoted the same day by the Russia Today channel had maintained that the closure of airspace to French military planes is likely to “severely impact French military operations and will correct a strategic error made by the former president. of the Republic (Abdelaziz Bouteflika, editor’s note) ”. French army planes were authorized to fly over Algeria in 2013.
In an interview with the German newspaper Der Spiegel in early November , President Abdelmadjid Tebboune addressed this issue in very strong terms. “If the French want to go to Mali or Niger now, they will have to fly nine hours instead of four. “
He said an “exception” will be made “when rescuing the wounded”. “But for everything else, we don’t have to cooperate with each other anymore, maybe it’s over now,” he said.
The Algerian decision is also seized by some potential candidates for the next French presidential election. Xavier Bertrand called it a lack of respect for France on the part of Algerian officials. “The Algerian leaders do not respect us, they no longer respect us. They prevent us from flying over their airspace when our planes need them to get to the Sahel, ”he said.
