Air France suspends flights to Ebola-hit Sierra Leone
Air France has suspended flights to Freetown due to the Ebola outbreak, leaving Sierra Leone and neighbouring Liberia reliant on just one airline, Royal Air Morocco. West African health ministers, meeting in Ghana on Thursday, are worried by the isolation of affected countries.
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Air France on Wednesday announced a “temporary suspension” of flights to Monrovia “as requested by the French government” but said it was maintaining flights to Guinea and Nigeria, where cases have been reported.
On Tuesday British Airways announced that it was stopping flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone until next year and Brussels Airlines, which usually runs four weekly flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone and three to Guinea, stopped services on Saturday and will decide its future schedule on Saturday.
Earlier this week United Nations special envoy on Ebola David Navarro said that the growing isolation of the affected countries "makes it difficult for the UN to do its work".
The worst-ever outbreak of the deadly virus has killed more than 1,400 people this year.
Royal Air Morocco says it will maintain its schedule of one a day to Guinea’s capital, Conakry, and an average of one every two days in Monrovia and Freetown.
“Our approach is supportive rather than mercenary,” spokesperson Hakim Challot told the AFP news agency, pointing out that only about 10 per cent of seats are being filled.
Health Ministers of the Ecowas grouping of west African countries were to meet in Accra on Thursday to discuss tackling the outbreak.
Ecowas judges the closing of land borders and suspension of air links too radical and unlikely to stop the spread of the virus.
The national security council of Côte d’Ivoire, which met on Wednesday, decided to consider opening humanitarian corridors subject to World Health Organisation guidelines with Ebola-hit neighbouring countries.
A food crisis is likely to develop with Liberia’s rice harvest predicted to be poor.
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