DOMESTIC FLIGHTS : Senegal embarks on the creation of a domestic airline company
[abelainfo.com] - As part of its ambitious strategy to develop the national air transport sector, the Senegalese government is considering setting up a new airline company dedicated exclusively to domestic flights. The objective is to improve the mobility of the population and the servicing of regions outside the capital.
Senegal is about to take a new step in modernizing its airport infrastructure and air transport services. According to information revealed by the daily newspaper Libération, the Ministry of Transport plans to create, in partnership with the private sector, an airline company exclusively dedicated to domestic routes. This project is included in the « Multi-Year Budgetary and Economic Programming Document (DPBEP) 2025-2027 ».
This initiative is a logical continuation of the reforms undertaken in recent years to make Senegal a major hub for civil aviation in West Africa. In addition to the recent launch of the national airline Air Senegal, the country has notably built the Blaise Diagne International Airport and modernized several regional platforms such as those in Ziguinchor and Saint-Louis.
The government now intends to take a new step by creating an airline company specialized in domestic routes. The objective is twofold: on the one hand, to significantly improve the connectivity of the country’s most isolated regions; and on the other hand, to promote the economic and tourist development of these areas.
To this end, the plan provides for the establishment of « aeropoles » around certain strategic airports, such as those in Saint-Louis, Diass and Ziguinchor. These multi-functional hubs will combine industrial complexes, aeronautical training centers and commercial and leisure areas. The ambition is to offer a complete ecosystem dedicated to aviation and to make them real engines of growth for the regions concerned.
This domestic airline project is part of a broader dynamic of structural transformation of the Senegalese air transport sector, led by the administration of Diomaye Faye. In addition to the creation of Air Senegal and airport investments, the country is currently carrying out an aircraft maintenance and repair (MRO) project. The objective is to make Senegal a major regional hub, capable of attracting the continent’s major operators.
While the operational details of the future domestic airline are not yet known, its launch should significantly stimulate the mobility of the population and the integration of the country’s interior regions. An essential issue to promote balanced economic and social development in the country.
S.N.
