• Mali Airlines SA plans first flight in 2026, board confirms timeline
  
• New carrier aims to boost domestic mobility and reach isolated northern regions
  
• Mali has lacked a national airline since Air Mali suspended operations in 2012

A planned national airline for Mali is expected to launch its first flight in 2026, according to local press reports. The date was set during the inaugural board meeting of Mali Airlines SA last week.

The board also appointed the management team and auditors, approved an operational timeline, and outlined key priorities. These include acquiring aircraft, securing technical partnerships, training specialised staff, selecting initial destinations, and designing a domestic network.

Mali Airlines SA, created by a ministerial decree in August 2024, is a central part of the Transport Ministry’s 2023 plan to improve domestic mobility.

The government has framed the project, Mali’s latest attempt to rebuild a national carrier, as a way to ease the constraints of the country’s landlocked position and improve access to inland regions, particularly in the north. Many northern areas, accessible mainly by road, remain isolated due to security conditions.

Mali has been without a national airline for more than a decade. The former flag carrier, Air Mali, originally Compagnie Aérienne du Mali founded in 2005, suspended operations in 2012. It once operated domestic, regional and international routes to cities including Mopti, Kayes, Timbuktu, Cotonou, Dakar, Niamey, Abidjan, Ouagadougou, Douala, Libreville, Conakry and Paris.

Henoc Dossa