Algeria and Mali have reciprocally reopened their airspace.

Algeria and Mali announced on Friday the reciprocal reopening of their airspaces, measures which could signal the beginning of a détente between the two countries after more than a year of diplomatic crisis, in separate statements.

The Malian government also announced the return to Algiers of its ambassador who had been recalled in April 2025, in a statement, without however specifying a date.

Bamako decides to "reopen national airspace to all civil and military aircraft operating flights to or from" Algeria, the same text says.

Algiers had, a few hours earlier, announced the same measure concerning the airspace of its neighbor.

This decision is effective from this Friday and "includes all air flights to and from Mali via various international destinations," the Algerian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Relations between Mali and Algeria have deteriorated sharply in recent years, since the Malian junta came to power following two coups in 2020 and 2021.

Algiers, which had played a central role in negotiating the 2015 peace agreement between Bamako and armed groups in the north, has seen its influence challenged by the new authorities, who accuse Algeria of interfering in their internal affairs.

The crisis worsened in the spring of 2025 after the destruction of a Malian military drone near their shared border. Algeria claimed the drone had violated its airspace, while Mali maintained it was within its territory.

The incident triggered a diplomatic crisis with the recall of ambassadors, reciprocal closure of airspaces and exchanges of accusations between Algiers and the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger).

Tensions were further fueled by Mali's announcement in April of its support for Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, a position opposed to that of Algeria, which supports the pro-independence Polisario Front.

Despite these tensions, the two countries remain linked by a long border and by common security challenges, including the fight against jihadist groups active in the Sahel.