a national flag flapping

With support of 40 billion CFA francs supported by state coffers, Air Senegal was well on its way to being the new bird that had to make us forget that the country has already buried two national companies. But less than two months after the launch of its commercial flights, the new company was forced to leave the entire fleet grounded due to technical incidents.

One of the two ATR-72 600 released brand new factory was able to take the air on July 20 last. The second, who has to undergo heavy repairs, is waiting to be transported to a maintenance center in Europe. In Senegal, this series of misfires is reminiscent of the repetition of a scenario for a national pavilion that had trouble remaining viable.

For the record, there was first Air Senegal International (ASI) which has barely been viable for a decade (2001-2009) for lack of agreement between its Senegalese and Moroccan shareholders. Half of its longevity for its younger sister, Senegal Airlines (2011-2016), whose obsolescence devices and its commercial strategy have made him lose no less than 20 billion CFA francs in its first year of operation. This braking of their young benjamine sister has thus carried the remugle of the bad memories which suddenly were reminded to the Senegalese.

A salty invoice, but " difficult to evaluate "

This Friday, July 20th In 2018, Air Sénégal SA (ASSA) was able to transport passengers from the new Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD) to Ziguinchor (in southern Senegal), which it serves twice a day. But the situation was very different two weeks ago: it had been 10 days since the new bird was able to fly to the green Casamance. Two incidents have taken its toll on its wings.

On June 27, 2018, one of the only two ATR 72-600 factory-made that is currently owned by ASSA is stored in a hangar after suffering the effects of bad weather. temporarily caused the closure of the AIBD. A week later, on July 7, 2018, the second aircraft was shut down after suffering a "bird hazard" a collusion with birds, which damaged the radome (tip of the unit). Result, July 10 last, the company is forced to announce the suspension of all its flights. How much could this sudden blow have cost?

" Hard to evaluate. Only the company can say how much is the shortfall of this interruption of activities. But what must be said is that with tickets at 66 000 FCFA for an ATR-72 with a maximum capacity of 74 places for services twice a day, we do not need to do complicated calculations to know that the recipes are ridiculous ", confides a connoisseur of the Senegalese air sector having requested the anonymity.

Within the company, one handles well the language of wood to elude and let the blurred in the fog. Contacted by The Tribune Afrique the management did not wish to respond to our requests. Internally, however, a source ventures to an explanation on the salty bill of this shutdown: "Irregularities of operation are inevitable in our industry. This is a parameter that is taken into account in the company's business plan and therefore the impact will be marginal. In this case, the insurers take care of the claims ". Which insurers? For what lack of profit? Our questions remained unanswered

Aircraft accustomed to hangars

In reality, this is the second time that the only two Air Sénégal aircraft are in airport hangars. On June 20, 2017 at the Paris Air Show, Senegal ordered two ATR-72-600s from 68 to 78 seats to the French-Italian turboprop manufacturer. Amount of the purchase invoice, 50 million euros (32.5 billion Fcfa) on the catalog. To settle the latter, the country contracts an export credit with the Public Investment Bank (BPI) France and the Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE), its Italian counterpart. To hoist the national flag, we do not count!

However, the aircraft delivered in November 2017 at the Aerodrome Toulouse Toulouse Francazal will be parked until May 2018. With parking fees of 250 euros per day (excluding taxes), the bill even before the commissioning of the company will have reached more than 58 million Fcfa of parking fees (excluding taxes) according to the calculations of La Tribune Afrique carried out on the basis of Tariff guide of the fees put online by Toulouse Francazal on its site. This amount covers only parking fees, therefore excluding technical costs of storage and duty free.

If we add to this already salted invoice the addition of the thirteen days off, the dreams of seeing the new company bring high the colors of Senegal in the highly competitive world of air transport are dropping considerably. Today, Air Sénégal SA has deployed its wings only for a domestic destination, or 14 weekly frequencies provided by its two ATR-72-600, 3 hours of daily use. Not really enough to hold the dream of a national flag capable of competing with sub-regional or international companies.

The national flag compromised by "dysfunctions" of management

"Senegal has all the assets to set up a viable, sustainable and profitable airline. We demonstrated this with the Seabury Market Study and the Expert Panel. The business plan developed by the Senegalese experts and the international firm Seabury provided for 7 destinations, 41 weekly frequencies and a daily utilization rate of the two 14-hour aircraft. Only a series of dysfunctions in the management of the company make this dream difficult to access ", indicates a member of the group of experts who had worked on the launch of the future company.

For all that is all not lost for Air Sénégal SA. With a support of 40 billion CFA francs, the new Senegalese pavilion is considering a gradual move upmarket in the acquisition of devices before embarking on the conquest of regional and intercontinental skies. According to an internal source, this domestic service is only an entry on the track. " We have put in place a development strategy that requires proceeding step by step. At the moment, we operate the domestic network and soon we will begin our flights in the sub-region with the following destinations: Banjul, Bissau, Praia. Then, we will spread all over the continent before going to the intercontinental ", says this source.

In its development plan, the company wants to expand its fleet with an Airbus A320 CEO for ensure medium-haul flights in the sub-region, but also an A330 NEO for international flights. "It is important to remember that we are the first to acquire this type of aircraft in Africa ," he gargles in teams Air Senegal SA. " If the company is entrusted to true managers underlines the group of experts, there is no doubt that we will have a solid national flag. But for the moment, its viability is questioned. "