{"id":23281,"date":"2023-09-04T01:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=23281"},"modified":"2023-09-04T06:46:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T10:46:16","slug":"military-coup-gabon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/military-coup-gabon\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabon Military Coup: Airspace Reopens"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6><strong>Update: 4 Sep 2023<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p><strong>Air borders in Gabon have reportedly been reopened following last week\u2019s coup.<\/strong> The UK FCO have posted an update <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/foreign-travel-advice\/gabon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>. From a security standpoint, not much has changed though &#8211; the situation is still volatile, and scheduled carriers continue to avoid landing at FOOL\/Libreville. Military action by neighbouring countries is still a possibility at short notice.<\/p>\n<h5>Original Story: 31 Aug 2023<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>There was a military coup in Gabon on Aug 30. The military group dissolved institutions, cancelled the Aug 26 election results, and closed the country\u2019s borders until further notice.<\/li>\n<li>Heavy gunfire was heard in the capital, Libreville, during the coup attempt, but the situation was calm in the capital and across the country as of Aug 31.<\/li>\n<li>Notams were vague, but several sources reported that Gabon&#8217;s airspace was closed, along with all airports in the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Airport and Airspace Info<\/h4>\n<p>Notams were published for Gabon under the FCCC\/Brazzaville FIR code, advising that the country&#8217;s air, sea and land <strong>borders are closed<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<pre>FCCCYNYX\r\n(A0913\/23 NOTAMR A0907\/23\r\nQ)FCCC\/QXXXX\/IV\/NBO\/E\/000\/999\/0043N01655E 999\r\nA)FCCC B)2023-08-30 16:10:00 C)2023-09-02 23:59:00 EST\r\nE)FOLLOWING THE CURRENT EVENTS IN THE REPUBLIC OF GABON,THE AIR,LAND\r\nAND SEA BORDERS ARE CLOSED FROM THIS DAY ON THROUGHOUT THE NATIONAL\r\nTERRITORY)<\/pre>\n<p><em>These Notams might not show up on conventional Notam search engines (the <a href=\"https:\/\/notams.aim.faa.gov\/notamSearch\/disclaimer.html\">FAA one<\/a>, for example, does not show them), so you have to use the ASECNA Notam search instead: <a href=\"https:\/\/ais.asecna.aero\/fr\/ntm\/notam.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/ais.asecna.aero\/fr\/ntm\/notam.php<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t 100% clear from the Notam if the airspace was closed for overflights, but several sources including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.royalairmaroc.com\/uk-en\/information\/delays-and-disruptions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Royal Air Maroc<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.government.nl\/latest\/news\/2023\/08\/30\/coup-in-gabon-updates-from-the-ministry-of-foreign-affairs-news#:~:text=Travel%20advisory%20for%20Gabon%20changed%20to%20red&amp;text=Do%20not%20travel%20to%20Gabon,borders%20and%20airspace%20are%20closed.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Netherlands Government<\/a>\u00a0said that the <strong>airspace was closed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Where are we talking about?<\/h4>\n<p>Gabon sits in the middle of the FCCC\/Brazzaville FIR:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-23290\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-1-1024x651.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-1-1024x651.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-1-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-1-768x488.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-1-1536x976.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-1-2048x1301.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Overflights of the FCCC\/Brazzaville FIR outside of Gabon were not affected.<\/p>\n<p>For overflights of Gabon itself, <strong>most operators avoided the airspace.<\/strong> In the ASECNA AIP, there is a <a href=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Libreville-Contingency-Plan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Contingency Plan<\/a> for routes through the Libreville UTA, although this didn&#8217;t seem to be activated at any stage.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what that looks like:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_23291\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23291\" class=\"wp-image-23291 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-2-1024x726.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"726\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-2-1024x726.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-2-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-2-768x545.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-2-1536x1089.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Gabon-2-2048x1452.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-23291\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Contingency Routes through the Libreville UTA.<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>(UG856) BIPIV\/MOVOD FL290, FL390 SOUTH-EAST BOUND<\/li>\n<li>(UG856) BIPIV\/MOVID FL300, FL400 NORTH-WEST BOUND<\/li>\n<li>(UG861) MOVOD \/ ARASI FL340, FL360 NORTH-WEST BOUND<\/li>\n<li>(UG861) MOVOD \/ ARASI FL330, FL350, FL370 SOUTH-EAST BOUND<\/li>\n<li>(UB737) IPOVO \/ USMOL FL280, FL320 SOUTH-WEST BOUND<\/li>\n<li>(UB737) IPOVO \/ USMOL FL270, FL310 NORTH-EAST BOUND<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that with the ongoing closure of airspace in Niger and Sudan, plus the airspace risk in Libya, this has already created challenges for traffic routing through Central Africa:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Niger:<\/strong> Airspace remains closed to all civilian flights following a military coup in Aug 2023. <a href=\"https:\/\/safeairspace.net\/niger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More info.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sudan:<\/strong>\u00a0Airspace remains closed to all civilian flights following a military coup in April 2023.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/safeairspace.net\/sudan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More info.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>South Sudan:<\/strong>\u00a0Air navigation services remain suspended above FL245 following the coup in Sudan.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/safeairspace.net\/south-sudan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More info.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Libya:<\/strong>\u00a0Flight ban for US and UK operators (several other countries have warnings in place) due to risks associated with the civil war that has been ongoing since 2014.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/safeairspace.net\/libya\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More info.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22941\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Sudan-Africa-airspace-maps-2-1024x726.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"726\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Sudan-Africa-airspace-maps-2-1024x726.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Sudan-Africa-airspace-maps-2-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Sudan-Africa-airspace-maps-2-768x545.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Sudan-Africa-airspace-maps-2-1536x1089.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Sudan-Africa-airspace-maps-2-2048x1452.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re continuing to monitor the situation closely. If you have any updates to share, please contact us at <a href=\"mailto:news@ops.group\">news@ops.group<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Update: 4 Sep 2023 Air borders in Gabon have reportedly been reopened following last week\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":23290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1222,2216,2217],"class_list":{"0":"post-23281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-briefings","8":"tag-fccc","9":"tag-fool","10":"tag-libreville"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23281"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23301,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23281\/revisions\/23301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}