Flights between Comoros and Madagascar are set to resume this July, ending a four-year suspension that has forced travelers to reroute through Addis Ababa for journeys between two neighboring island nations. President Azali Assoumani confirmed the resumption on Monday, July 6, during celebrations of Comoros’ 51st independence anniversary in Moroni.
The aviation link collapsed in July 2022, when Madagascar suspended all flights to Comoros citing official sanitary reasons. The underlying dispute traced back to December 2021, when 49 kilograms of gold were seized in Comoros. That gold was returned to Madagascar in March 2025 under a mutual agreement, and the diplomatic thaw that followed appears to have unlocked the stalled aviation file.
Assoumani’s recent visit to Madagascar for that nation’s independence celebration created the opening for negotiations. Soilihi Mohamed Djounaid, deputy secretary general of the Comorian government, described the shift in terms that were direct: “There has been a warming of relations of cooperation, friendship and fraternity with the new authorities of Madagascar. Among the points agreed between the two parties is the immediate opening of air links. The Malagasy authorities confirm that this will happen in July. I do not yet have an exact date.”
That last sentence is the operational reality right now. The political framework is settled. The delivery details are not.
No airline operator has been named publicly, and no specific launch date within July has been confirmed. Those specifics will emerge as both governments work through the technical arrangements required to restore scheduled service. For travelers, traders, and students who have waited four years, the gap between announcement and first departure remains the critical unknown.
Meanwhile, the practical cost of the suspension has been considerable. Passengers connecting between two nations that lie relatively close to one another have been absorbing the time and expense of routing through Addis Ababa. Nourdine Saïd, who spent four years in Madagascar, put it plainly: “It is good news because we were forced to go through Addis Ababa to reach our neighbors. Of course, this will affect ticket prices because making stopovers like that costs a lot of money compared to a direct flight. There will be commercial exchanges. Everyone wins.”
The four-year interruption effectively pushed cross-border movement onto maritime routes and expensive international connections that turned hour-long journeys into multi-day ordeals. Students seeking education across the border, traders moving goods, and families separated by the suspension all absorbed those costs. Restored air connectivity would compress that friction significantly.
What remains to be seen is whether July holds as a delivery date, and which carrier takes on the route first.