The Union of Air Traffic Controllers Unions (USYCAA) announced the suspension of a 48-hour strike that began Friday. The strike disrupted flights throughout the region and left hundreds of passengers stranded at airports on Saturday.

The Union of Air Traffic Controllers' Unions, which called the wildcat strike, said in a statement that it had decided to immediately suspend its strike notice for 10 days to allow for negotiations. The union said more than 700 air traffic controllers joined the strike to demand better working conditions and pay.

The controllers work under the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), an 18-member state agency that manages air traffic over an area covering 16 million square kilometers of airspace. Throughout the region, airport operations came to a virtual standstill as authorities tried to keep control towers operational for some flights.