Air Sénégal’s flagship route between Dakar and New York City is under scrutiny as the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducts an audit to assess the route’s reliability.
According to africaintelligence.com, the outcome of this audit could impact the future operations of the Senegalese national carrier on this key transatlantic route, raising concerns about potential service disruptions.
READ: Aviation: African carriers, Air Senegal, Air Tanzania lose patience with P&W over grounded A220 fleets, may seek legal action for compensation
Also, onemileatatime.com reports that Air Senegal will be ending its route to the United States, which it launched a few years back.
Air Senegal cuts Dakar to New York route
As of September 19, 2024, Air Senegal will be discontinuing its 3,830-mile route between Dakar (DSS) and New York (JFK). The route currently operates twice weekly with the following schedule:
HC407 Dakar to New York departing 4:00AM arriving 9:00AM
HC408 New York to Dakar departing 1:30AM arriving 1:50PM
The airline launched this route back in September 2021. At first, the flight operated all the way to Baltimore (BWI), so the airline operated a tag flight between New York and Baltimore, so it could serve both markets in the United States with a single transatlantic route. However, in January 2023, the airline pulled the plug on the Baltimore tag flight, just keeping the service between Dakar and New York.
READ: Africa: Facing problems with the Airbus A220, Air Senegal to replace fleet with Embraer E195-E2 jets
Another interesting twist with this route has been that it has been operated by a wet leased aircraft. Senegal doesn’t have a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Category 1 safety rating, meaning Senegal-registered aircraft can’t operate flights to the United States.
While Air Senegal had two Airbus A330-900neos in its fleet, one of those planes was technically registered in Malta, to wet lease operator Hi Fly Malta. So that plane had been used for service to the United States, with a Hi Fly crew.
However, in November 2023, that jet, with the registration code 9H-SZN, was parked. It’s my understanding that the aircraft is being reregistered in Senegal, so it can be used on other routes, without needing to use another operator. Meanwhile the New York service has been flown with other wet leased Hi Fly aircraft.
