Kenya Airways, Kenya’s flag carrier, has announced a new service connecting the capitals of Ghana and Senegal from 11 December. This is the first sign that African governments are serious about implementing the Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM).
Complementing the airline’s existing schedule to two destinations, the twice-weekly service will increase options between Nairobi and Accra to nine weekly flights and Dakar to four.
This reflects KQ’s push to get its growth plans back on track after two years of disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic, with the new Nairobi-Mombasa-Dubai service launching this December. It will be done next.
Allowing Kenyan airlines to easily select intermediate traffic between Accra and Dakar without reciprocal service to Kenya by Ghanaian airlines marks the beginning of the much-anticipated era of open skies in Africa. I’m here.
pilot scheme
Kenya and Ghana are among 15 African states that signed up to pilot plans to test air service operations under SAATM in Dakar last week. Under existing restrictions, such flights would be operated under fifth freedom rights under terms agreed in bilateral air service agreements.
According to Julius Thairu, Chief Commercial and Customer Officer of Kenya Airways, the new connection “will provide more travel and connection options within West Africa. Strategically, we will grow network connections within the continent and By deepening, the overall picture is to support the single African Air Transport Market and the African Continental Free Trade Area, which are key pillars of growth in Africa.”
KQ hopes to leverage existing demand from corporate travelers, traders and leisure travelers between Ghana and Senegal to support what will be the first direct connection between the two West African capitals.
Suggested flights are available twice a week. Outbound (KQ514) departs Nairobi on Tuesdays and Sundays at 21:30 local time and arrives in Accra at 12:10 local time. The leg to Dakar starts at 01.10 and arrives at 04.15. The return flight KQ 515 departs Dakar at 05:15 local time and makes hourly stops in Accra.
