Air Sénégal Suspends New York Flights Amid Mounting Debt and Operational Challenges

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Air Sénégal, grappling with heavy debt, poor load factors, and overly ambitious expansion plans, is facing significant operational challenges. Recently, the airline announced it would suspend its flights to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, effectively ending its service to the United States for the foreseeable future.

Originally, Air Sénégal aspired to become a leading example of West African aviation, offering extensive connections to Europe and North America using a fleet of modern aircraft. However, the latest round of network cuts brings the airline back to near square one, undermining its ambitious vision. This downsizing is disappointing, especially considering the airline’s impressive livery and state-of-the-art fleet, which includes the Airbus A330neo and A320ceo.

In collaboration with Romuald Ngueyap, Editor-in-Chief at NewsAero, we explore the reasons behind Air Sénégal’s decision to suspend its New York route, as well as the broader challenges facing the airline.

Starting September 15, 2024, Air Sénégal will halt its twice-weekly service between Dakar’s Blaise Diagne International Airport (DSS) and New York JFK Airport, as reported by Aeroroutes. The final flight from the United States is scheduled for the following day. In addition to this significant reduction, the airline is also discontinuing two of its intra-African routes.

They are as follows:

As recently announced, Air Sénégal will discontinue its service to New York, leaving Lufthansa as the sole Airbus A340 operator on the route. Air Sénégal had been utilizing a wet-leased aircraft from Hi Fly for its New York flights, due to the absence of its own approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Several key factors have contributed to the unviability of this route:

1. Extended Ground Time: Air Sénégal’s strategy to prioritize connections results in the aircraft remaining on the ground at New York’s JFK Airport for approximately 16.5 hours. This extended downtime at a high-cost airport adds to the operational expenses, impacting profitability.
2. Lack of Anglophone Connections: The airline does not serve major West African markets like Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana, which are significant for JFK. This limits its appeal to passengers seeking connections to these key anglophone destinations.
3. Absence of US Codeshare Agreements: Unlike Delta Air Lines, which also operates on the JFK-DSS route, Air Sénégal has not established any codeshare or interline agreements with North American carriers. Such partnerships could have helped increase passenger load by offering more convenient connections within the US.
4. Low Load Factors: Data from the US Department of Transportation T-100 indicates that Air Sénégal’s average load factor was just 64% from January 2023 to May 2024. These low load factors further demonstrate the challenge of maintaining a profitable operation on this route.

These issues have collectively led to Air Sénégal’s decision to withdraw from the New York market, marking a strategic retreat from its initial ambitions to establish a robust presence in North America.

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