Dana Air (9J, Lagos) has signed a partnership agreement with Togo-based ASKY Airlines (KP, Lomé) which will foster the Nigerian carrier's route network growth as well as fleet renewal plans.
In a statement, Dana Air said that under the initiative, it had inked an interline agreement with ASKY along with an aircraft partnership agreement which will see the wet-lease of a B737-700 from ASKY on a one-year contract. No delivery dates were disclosed.
“We have also had advanced talks with some other notable aircraft manufacturers and very soon, some aircraft outside the country on maintenance will also be arriving," group managing director of the airline, Jacky Hathiramani, said. "This is part of our desire to provide options for our guests who have also been requesting us to consider some under-served cities in Nigeria. We want to assure our guests of our commitment towards providing safe, reliable, affordable and world-class air transport services in Nigeria.”
Airline Chief Operating Officer Obialor Mbanuzuo has since told ch-aviation that Dana Air would initially wet-lease in the aircraft which could then transition to either a damp- or even dry-lease contract later on.
Dana Air currently operates an all-McDonnell Douglas fleet of one MD-82 and four MD-83s on scheduled passenger flights covering Lagos, Abuja, Owerri, Port Harcourt Awolowo, and Uyo.
Last year, Mbanuzuo told ch-aviation that the B737-700 was an ideal candidate for renewal given it more or less offers comparable seating capacity to the MD fleet. He also noted at the time that the B737-700 would also allow the airline to venture into the West African market operating routes within a 3-hour flying radius from its Lagos base.
For its part, Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) affiliate ASKY operates three B737-700s, one B737-800, and four Dash 8-400s on flights covering 24 destinations across West and Central Africa.
