The Air Senegal SA company following the defunct Air Senegal International (ASI), a joint venture with Royal Air Maroc, which went bankrupt in 2009 and Senegal Airlines (controlled by the State, which went bankrupt in 2016) will it meet with more merciful heavens?
Under the direction of Philippe Bohn, former Africa director of the EADS group, the new company Air Sénégal SA launched on October 5, 2018 its first international flights, with Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Cotonou (Benin) thanks to an Airbus A319 belonging to the aircraft charterer Avolon (Chinese conglomerate HNA).
The lease of a second A319 will “make more connections with the gradual opening of services Praia (Cape Verde), Conakry (Guinea) Bamako (Mali) and Ouagadougou (Burkina-faso),” the company added. Paris should follow in February 2019 to the detriment of Corsair company invited to suspend its service to this juicy bond.
According to the latest IMF country report, Air Sénégal is a public limited company wholly owned by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC). The company’s share capital is 40 billion, of which 23 billion is released. The share capital will be increased to 100 billion FCFA and should be open to strategic partners.
As a reminder, Air Senegal has already acquired two ATR aircraft for the domestic and regional markets. These aircraft are financed by a loan up to 80% of the acquisition amount, with a sovereign guarantee. The company plans to acquire two A330 Neo airbus in order to make long-haul flights, especially in Paris. Delivery of the aircraft is expected, the first in January 2019 and the second in June of the same year. The structuring of financing that is the responsibility of the company is underway and will be finalized around September.
