Niger's airspace is "open to all national and international commercial flights except for French aircraft or aircraft chartered by France including those of the airline Air France," it said in the statement dated late Saturday.
The air space would remain closed for "all military, operational and other special flights," unless receiving prior authorization, the message said. Air France told AFP simply that it was "not flying over Niger airspace."
Niger had reopened its airspace on September 4 for commercial flights after having been closed for nearly a month since August 6, when the country's military leaders closed it "in the face of the threat of armed intervention" from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The regional bloc threatened military action to restore the elected President Mohamed Bazoum who had been overthrown in a coup on July 26. ECOWAS cut off financial aid to Niger, froze the military's assets in addition to banning commercial flights to and from the country.
France has repeatedly supported the West African bloc, and relations between Paris and Niamey have been at an all-time low since the coup.
Niger is a former French colony and one of the last Western allies in the Sahel. It is also rich in uranium, on which France depends. As noted by French media, this African country accounts for 15% to 17% of the uranium used to produce electricity in France. There are currently 1,500 and 1,000 French troops deployed in Niger and Chad.