https://twitter.com/FlyAirSenegal/statu ... 0034644992

Service begins June both 3x weekly. Nice to see them expanding more into Europe

I bet they would have gone to LHR if they could have.

Paying big money for slots at Heathrow to open a 3× weekly to Dakar would probably be an excessive investment - there hasn't been a regular London-Dakar route for a long time, so pax demand is a bit of an unknown. Air Senegal has less than 10 aircraft in its fleet - they will need to manage their resources carefully

Apart from Stansted, Gatwick would have been my first choice of London airport for a route to Dakar - either slots come free or at modest cost, along with greater potential to pick up self-connecting pax from northern UK and Scandinavia

Air Senegal has officially announced that it will be launching 2 new EU routes in S20 on a full year basis as well as expanding its capacity offering to BCN and MRS.

The major highlights are as follows:

i. Two Airbus A321s to be inducted into the fleet in April and May respectively on a dry lease basis

ii. Cabin configuration of the A321 is 165 seats i.e. 16J with lie flat beds + 149Y

iii. HC will become the first African carrier to operate a narrow body aircraft with a lie flat J class product on board + the A321s also offer Wi-Fi connectivity

iv. Effective 18JUN, new 3 weekly nonstop flights to GVA will be launched using an A321 on Days 1/4/6 arriving into GVA at 0625utc and departing back at 0755utc

v. Effective 26JUN, new 3 weekly nonstop flights to STN (London Stansted) will be using an A321 on Days 2/5/7 arriving into STN at 0625utc and departing back at 0750utc

vi. Effective 28JUN, frequencies to BCN-MRS (operated as DSS-BCN-MRS-DSS) will be increased from 3 to 4 weekly using an A339Neo. Flights will operate on Days 1/4/6/7 with D7 being the additional day of operation

vii. All of HC's EU + CMN flights connect via DSS in both directions under 2 hours to ABJ, RAI, BKO, CKY, BJL and FNA

FYI, the p2p demand between GVA and DSS over the past year was 28,000 pax whilst its neighboring city LYS had 35,000 p2p. London on the other hand had 19,000 p2p but it will also cater nicely to feeder traffic bound to BJL FNA ABJ RAI.

Very cool, for small airlines in africa the A321neo/lr/xlr can open up so many thinner routes they normally couldn't operate. Even though this is a regular A321 right?

FlyRow wrote:

Very cool, for small airlines in africa the A321neo/lr/xlr can open up so many thinner routes they normally couldn't operate. Even though this is a regular A321 right?

They could have been doing this with a 738 twenty years ago. DSS doesn't need widebody range to Western Europe.

MIflyer12 wrote:

FlyRow wrote:

Very cool, for small airlines in africa the A321neo/lr/xlr can open up so many thinner routes they normally couldn't operate. Even though this is a regular A321 right?

They could have been doing this with a 738 twenty years ago. DSS doesn't need widebody range to Western Europe.

And Air Senegal’s old old predecessor (Air Senegal International) did exactly that (although I’m not sure with what equipment). Not sure about Senegal Airlines that was between that airline and present day Air Senegal.

Important to remember that Air Senegal is only slightly less than 2 years old. These routes are not being launched because new equipment finally makes them viable, they are being launched because Air Senegal is slowly growing their fleet and operations.

behramjee wrote:

v. Effective 26JUN, new 3 weekly nonstop flights to STN (London Stansted) will be using an A321 on Days 2/5/7 arriving into STN at 0625utc and departing back at 0750utc

STN? I really wish they would do LGW. Makes for much better connections from Canada.

If flying from Canada to Dakar, would Paris, Madrid or Casablanca not be the more obvious transit points ?

STN? I really wish they would do LGW. Makes for much better connections from Canada.

No slots available in the morning at LGW for the timings that HC needed to ensure 2 way connectivity via DSS to its African network.

If flying from Canada to Dakar, would Paris, Madrid or Casablanca not be the more obvious transit points ?

The main Canada-Dakar market is YUL-DSS (18,000 pax round trip annually) and it would be faster flying via CMN followed by CDG logically.

Important to remember that Air Senegal is only slightly less than 2 years old. These routes are not being launched because new equipment finally makes them viable, they are being launched because Air Senegal is slowly growing their fleet and operations.

Correct...and also note that HC has ordered 8 A220-300s that will be delivered a year or two from now.

The main differences between the past Senegal Airlines versions versus Air Senegal today are as follows:

i. Business model change from P2P primarily to hub and spoke

ii. Development of the Dakar hub presently which offers convenient connections to 7 regional flights for all EU + CMN flights in both directions

iii. Top quality on board product on the A339Neo and soon on the A321Ceos

they'll move quicker than you can say FlyBe accountants, as soon as slots come up 'elsewhere' if it survives long enough.

Can a thread moderator please change the title to “Air Senegal announces Geneva and London” ...thank you

How is western Africa doing economically? From what I read Senegal does pretty ok for African standards so there should be some sort of business traffic with Europe?

Senegal touchwood gets massive tourism from EU year round. As far as business demand is concerned it’s mainly CDG JFK and GVA bound.

behramjee wrote:

Senegal touchwood gets massive tourism from EU year round. As far as business demand is concerned it’s mainly CDG JFK and GVA bound.

What business ties are there with GVA? Banking sector?

I read an article not to long ago that said that while they were doing great on their route to Paris (90%+ LF), loads on their African network were abysmal. Traffic rights between Paris and Senegal are maxed out (correct me if I am wrong but it’s up to 14 round trips weekly only). With, according to the Senegalese consulate, 300K Senegalese living legally in France and the country being so popular with French tourists it’s no wonder the flight is doing so well. According to Aena ORY-LIS-DKS is also one of TP’s leading connecting pairs.

Blerg wrote:

behramjee wrote:

Senegal touchwood gets massive tourism from EU year round. As far as business demand is concerned it’s mainly CDG JFK and GVA bound.

What business ties are there with GVA? Banking sector?

UN links.

Blerg wrote:

behramjee wrote:

Senegal touchwood gets massive tourism from EU year round. As far as business demand is concerned it’s mainly CDG JFK and GVA bound.

What business ties are there with GVA? Banking sector?

There are a couple of UN offices in Dakar, AFAIK.

Blerg wrote:

behramjee wrote:

Senegal touchwood gets massive tourism from EU year round. As far as business demand is concerned it’s mainly CDG JFK and GVA bound.

What business ties are there with GVA? Banking sector?

French language is the connection here.

DSS is a major UN hub in Africa as well as it has many other international aid agencies based there taking care of West Africa.

Remember GVA flight will also cater to LYS demand some what as LYS-DSS p2p is 35,000 annual pax round trip.

JayBCN wrote:

Blerg wrote:

behramjee wrote:

Senegal touchwood gets massive tourism from EU year round. As far as business demand is concerned it’s mainly CDG JFK and GVA bound.

What business ties are there with GVA? Banking sector?

French language is the connection here.

Is that really enough to warrant non-stop flights from Dakar? I think there has to be more. I guess UN staff helps like the other poster mentioned.

Blerg wrote:

JayBCN wrote:

Blerg wrote:

What business ties are there with GVA? Banking sector?

French language is the connection here.

Is that really enough to warrant non-stop flights from Dakar? I think there has to be more. I guess UN staff helps like the other poster mentioned.

There use to be a direct Swissair flight from GVA to Dakar until the airline swift all non European operation in ZRH (except JFK) in 1996. There is definitely a diaspora in the region, France included. In between the UN, the diaspora and the possible connecting passengers, this route makes sense.

Dakar O&D is about 25k for GVA, about 32k for LYS. But GVA revenues are higher, better yield. When it comes to economic and diplomatic links between Lake Geneva region, they are obvious. UN activities and related, large commodity and food sector (oil, agriculture). The leaders in this sector are all around the region from Nestle, Ecom Agroindustrial, Cargill, SGS, etc. Plus the francophone angle. The link makes sense, but there will be a lot of one stop competition from better established airlines.