Billboard in Accra showing the Air Mali Network, 2011

Air Mali has, in recent years, made a strong effort to be relevant in the fast-growing but still tiny West African aviation market. Prominent billboards, such as this one on the Kanda Highway near Kotoka Airport in Accra, were part of its strategy to get noticed and get customers.

The network stretches from Pointe-Noire to Nouakchott, and concentrates heavily on the Francophone capitals. However, there are a few Anglophone cities served, as especially highlighted on this advert with Accra shown more prominently than even Bamako. Lagos is also linked, although central African serves to Libreville and Brazzaville appear to transit via Cotonou or Lomé. The Freetown-Monrovia service was short-lived, and since this billboard was erected in Ghana, the country has been torn apart by civil conflict, from which it is just now starting to recover. It's not clear from the airline's website how accurate this c.2011 route map is today.

Air Mali Network from Accra, November 2011

This billboard was positioned prominently at the intersection of Liberation Road and the Obasanjo Highway in the Airport area of Accra, Ghana in late 2011. It shows the network of Air Mali, fanning out from its hub at Bamako, yet its most prominent label is Accra itself. Air Mali, part of the Celestair group, which operates sister carriers Air Burkina and Air Uganda, offers scheduled services to more than 15 cities from Niamey to Nouakchott, Brazzaville to Dakar.

Air Mali Network, c.2009

From the Air Mali website, although not up to date. A warm and stately reseau showing Air Mali's network, stretching all the way to Pointe-Noire, off the map at the extreme lower-right. Helpfully, the route lines are color coded by aircraft type, a unique feature which is somewhat cryptically keyed by the "CRJ" and "MD" legend and lower left. Ouagadougou is misspelled. Accra is the only Anglophone city served, via Abidjan.