ASKY Airlines is a private multinational passenger

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

serving West and Central Africa, with its head office in

Lomé Lomé is the capital and largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

and its hub at Gnassingbé Eyadéma International Airport. The airline is a strategic partner of

Ethiopian Airlines Ethiopian Airlines (commonly referred to as Ethiopian; am, የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ, translit=Ye-Ītyōṗṗyā āyer menged), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by ...

, and has been consistently profitable since 2017.

History

Foundation

After the pan-African airline

Air Afrique Air Afrique was a Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, because many of these countr ...

went bankrupt in 2002, cross-border air transport in Africa became more difficult, especially in West and Central Africa. At a conference of the

Economic Community of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(ECOWAS) and the

West African Economic and Monetary Union The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of fifteen countries located in West Africa. Collectively, these countries comprise an area of , and in ...

(UEMOA) at

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. Niamey's population was counted as 1,026,848 as of the 2012 census. As of 2017, population projections show the capital dis ...

in Niger on 10 January 2004, it was decided to create a private, competitive, cost-effective airline offering all guarantees of safety and security for the region. In September 2005, under the initiative of Gervais Koffi G. Djondo, the company for the promotion of a regional airline (SPCAR) was set up, which led to various feasibility studies and market studies, and sought financial and strategic partners; this led to the establishment of ASKY Airlines in November 2007 with Gervais Koffi G. Djondo as President. On 17 January 2008 the General Meeting to establish the new international private airline was held in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's ...

, Burkina Faso. 80% of shares were to be held by private investors, and 20% by public financial institutions whose mission is to support privately owned development institutions.

became the technical and strategic partner under a management contract for the first five years of operation, holding a 40% stake. Originally planned for April 2009, the first revenue flight took place on 15 January 2010.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

The airline is privately owned. Main shareholders are

(40%),

Ecobank Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 36 African countries. It is the leading independent regional banking group in West Africa and Central Africa, se ...

, BIDC, BOAD, Sakhumnotho Group Holding and other West and Central African private investors.

Business trends

Asky Airlines has been reported as being profitable, although accounts do not seem to have been published. The airline states that it was first profitable in 2015, and then again from 2017 to 2019. Recent available figures (largely from AFRAA reports) are shown below (for years ending 31 December):

Destinations

Asky Airlines serves the following 19 scheduled destinations throughout West and Central Africa from its hub at Lome (October 2017): ASKY_Network_effective_Nov_2016

Alliances and codeshare agreements

Asky is able to connect flights in its network to various points in the

network, with whom it has codeshare arrangements, via

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

and beyond to the Middle East, Far East, and East Africa. In 2021, ASKY became a member of IATA.

Fleet

Asky-airlines-q400-douala-cameroon-in-rain

The ASKY Airlines fleet comprises the following aircraft as of April 2021: ASKY was one of the first airlines in the world to operate dual-class Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft, with a completely separate cabin for business class passengers.

Accidents and incidents

* On 10 January 2015 an Asky Airlines Boeing 737-43QSF (leased from

), was damaged beyond repair in a landing accident and runway excursion at

Kotoka International Airport Kotoka International Airport is an international airport in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The airport is operated by Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), which has its offices on the airport property. It is the sole international airport in ...

, Accra,

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. The aircraft was written off and there were no fatalities.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asky Airlines Airlines of Togo Airlines established in 2008 Ethiopian Airlines Companies of Togo Lomé 2008 establishments in Togo