Is there any update on when Air Senegal starting? I don't see any news or websites.

CH.aviation has a piece regarding Air Senegal that was published about a week or so ago so do a search online and your see it.

Air Senegal have indeed commenced operations and have received their first A320.

Air Senegal have also committed an order for two A330neo.

Rather than type it here as I'm not in the mood to do so but I suggest a search online as your find further information there OR you could always try http://www.flyairsenegal.com

Thanks for link. I didn't know they were getting an A320, all articles read say that just two A330s and two ATRs.

As to my knowledge they have not yet started their operations at all, reason for it being authorities not having granted the airline’s AOC so far. In addition, it seems as if Senegalese authorities do not dispose of the necessary qualification to inspect and certify airworthiness of their two ATRs, so that the Directorate General of the French Army had to be tasked, thus leading to another delay. Currently, they‘ve envisaged a time frame of June/July until the company‘s aircraft will be cleared for take off for the first time.

The livery looks like it could be a subsidiary of ET !

Let's hope this one lasts long enough....previous few incarnations all went up in flame...I mean debts.

This the fourth national carrier Senegal has attempted to establish in the last 20 years - at what point are they going to stop wasting their money? Senegal is not a premium market, does not have a strategic location to pull connecting traffic, nor does it have the deep pockets to sustain a perpetually loss-making national carrier. I actually think Dakar would actually be a good market for Norwegian, maybe fly some 737MAX and A321neos to their already established stations in Europe (maybe a 787 to CDG) and dominate the west african regional markets where they would have little reputable and reliable competition (mainly Asky and Air Cote D'Ivoire). It would probably lose less money than their current attempt at TATL ops...

usflyer msp wrote:

Senegal is not a premium market, does not have a strategic location to pull connecting traffic, nor does it have the deep pockets to sustain a perpetually loss-making national carrier.

Points 1 & 3 are correct, but Dakar is actually very well located in a very poorly connected region of a very poorly connected continent, there's definitely a niche as a regional hub. Senegal is a very well developed country (by West African standards) and is much more geographically convenient to the region than the current hub of Casablanca, and has strong ties with neighbouring countries. Want to fly Bissau to Bamako, Banjul to Nouakchott? Accra or Casablanca aren't great routings and a Dakar hub could make a lot of sense. No one in West Africa is in a hurry though, so time savings alone won't make it a stand-out.

Another market is a connecting point for Asia/East Africa-South America.

There are probably a fair few opportunities to exploit if the person making decisions has the visions.

Cunard wrote:

CH.aviation has a piece regarding Air Senegal that was published about a week or so ago so do a search online and your see it.

Air Senegal have indeed commenced operations and have received their first A320.

Air Senegal have also committed an order for two A330neo.

Rather than type it here as I'm not in the mood to do so but I suggest a search online as your find further information there OR you could always try http://www.flyairsenegal.com

Had only you been in the mood to check your information!

Air Sénégal has not yet commenced operations and to my knowledge, there has been no official start date announced. They were still in the process of obtaining their AOC 2 weeks ago - I've heard no update since then.

They don't operate, nor do they have on order, any A320s.

dredgy wrote:

usflyer msp wrote:

Senegal is not a premium market, does not have a strategic location to pull connecting traffic, nor does it have the deep pockets to sustain a perpetually loss-making national carrier.

Points 1 & 3 are correct, but Dakar is actually very well located in a very poorly connected region of a very poorly connected continent, there's definitely a niche as a regional hub. Senegal is a very well developed country (by West African standards) and is much more geographically convenient to the region than the current hub of Casablanca, and has strong ties with neighbouring countries. Want to fly Bissau to Bamako, Banjul to Nouakchott? Accra or Casablanca aren't great routings and a Dakar hub could make a lot of sense. No one in West Africa is in a hurry though, so time savings alone won't make it a stand-out.

Another market is a connecting point for Asia/East Africa-South America.

There are probably a fair few opportunities to exploit if the person making decisions has the visions.

I disagree with your take of Point 2. You have mentioned 2 of the perhaps 15 city-pairs that an Dakar hub is convenient for. Dakar is kind of like a Miami or Lisbon, it can service its O&D traffic (it is the 4th largest city in West Africa) and be a good gateway to Europe or North America but it is too far west to be a regional hub of any scale. Abidjan can do almost everything Dakar does better.

I think Asia/East Africa - Dakar - South America is a very problematic idea for many reasons...

dredgy wrote:

usflyer msp wrote:

Senegal is not a premium market, does not have a strategic location to pull connecting traffic, nor does it have the deep pockets to sustain a perpetually loss-making national carrier.

Points 1 & 3 are correct, but Dakar is actually very well located in a very poorly connected region of a very poorly connected continent, there's definitely a niche as a regional hub. Senegal is a very well developed country (by West African standards) and is much more geographically convenient to the region than the current hub of Casablanca, and has strong ties with neighbouring countries. Want to fly Bissau to Bamako, Banjul to Nouakchott? Accra or Casablanca aren't great routings and a Dakar hub could make a lot of sense. No one in West Africa is in a hurry though, so time savings alone won't make it a stand-out.

Another market is a connecting point for Asia/East Africa-South America.

There are probably a fair few opportunities to exploit if the person making decisions has the visions.

I can not imagine there are many passengers traveling from Bissau to Bamako or Banjul to Nouackchott. These are very small markets from my understanding of West Africa.

AF022 wrote:

dredgy wrote:

usflyer msp wrote:

Senegal is not a premium market, does not have a strategic location to pull connecting traffic, nor does it have the deep pockets to sustain a perpetually loss-making national carrier.

Points 1 & 3 are correct, but Dakar is actually very well located in a very poorly connected region of a very poorly connected continent, there's definitely a niche as a regional hub. Senegal is a very well developed country (by West African standards) and is much more geographically convenient to the region than the current hub of Casablanca, and has strong ties with neighbouring countries. Want to fly Bissau to Bamako, Banjul to Nouakchott? Accra or Casablanca aren't great routings and a Dakar hub could make a lot of sense. No one in West Africa is in a hurry though, so time savings alone won't make it a stand-out.

Another market is a connecting point for Asia/East Africa-South America.

There are probably a fair few opportunities to exploit if the person making decisions has the visions.

I can not imagine there are many passengers traveling from Bissau to Bamako or Banjul to Nouackchott. These are very small markets from my understanding of West Africa.

They are small-medium, poor markets, but they are markets nonetheless, and in a region experiencing slow, but steady growth. I've travelled both those routes I used as an example (and have travelled extensively through West Africa, it can be extremely painful).
Small markets (niche) can be extremely profitable. Another idea off the top of my head is running regional flights and partnering with Emirates - who fly full flights into Dakar and a few other cities, but generally have a lack of presence in the West African region with no significant partners for feed.

My point is that there are few, if any, places in the world where a market can't be built or tapped into, and Senegal is not in a bad position for an airline, all it will take is the right management team and strategy. They only need one profitable route to organically expand.

That said, judging from their fleet plan, this will not be commercially successful airline.

Part of the problem is traffic right - In spite of the Yomoussoukro Declaration which has been calling for open sky for almost 20 years, many States restrict traffic rights to protect their national airlines even though the national airlines is often only a paper airlines.

PaulYUL wrote:

Part of the problem is traffic right - In spite of the Yomoussoukro Declaration which has been calling for open sky for almost 20 years, many States restrict traffic rights to protect their national airlines even though the national airlines is often only a paper airlines.

Actually, Senegal is one of the worst with this. They denied traffic rights to Asky for three years just because they wanted to protect DN, their national carrier at the time...

dredgy wrote:

Small markets (niche) can be extremely profitable. Another idea off the top of my head is running regional flights and partnering with Emirates - who fly full flights into Dakar and a few other cities, but generally have a lack of presence in the West African region with no significant partners for feed.

That is essentially what the last attempt at a national carrier, Senegal Airlines, attempted to do. Remember, EK initially had a contract to manage the carrier but after doing the math EK walked away (they still had an interline agreement however) and DN failed miserably.