ASKY has added Nairobi, its latest destination after Luanda. Both routes are brand-new. ASKY overnights its entire fleet at outstations, and Nairobi and Luanda are no exception.
ASKY Airlines is not a big operator. According to ch-aviation, the Togo-based strategic partner of Ethiopian Airlines has just 12 aircraft: eight Boeing 737-800s and four 737-700s. Two used MAX 8s are reportedly coming. Despite the small fleet, ASKY is a highly coordinated hub and spoke airline, serving 27 destinations from its Lomé hub this August-October.
Jambo, Nairobi!
ASKY will inaugurate Lomé to Nairobi on October 1st. The Kenyan capital will be served three weekly non-stop in both directions using the two-class, 154-seat 737-800. Entirely timed to connect behind and beyond Lomé, Lagos and Accra will be especially well demanded for transit passengers.
Some 2,517 miles (4,050 km) apart, the new route is scheduled as follows:
- Lomé to Nairobi: KP78, 12:40-21:25 (5h 45m)
- Nairobi to Lomé: KP79, 09:05-11:40 (5h 35m)
Interestingly, when writing on August 12th, Nairobi passengers cannot connect to Ethiopian’s non-stop services from Lomé to Newark or Washington Dulles. (JFK has reverted to operating via Abidjan.) For now, flying via Addis Ababa is seemingly the only way with Ethiopian, with (funnily enough) Nairobi-Addis-Lomé-Newark/Dulles available.
It follows Luanda launch
ASKY began Luanda on August 2nd. Served three weekly, the 1,322-mile (2,128 km) route to the Angolan capital is, like Nairobi, non-stop in both directions using the 737-800. Alas, the inbound flight reportedly only had 55 passengers.
- Lomé to Luanda: KP76 14:25-19:00
- Luanda to Lomé: KP77, 08:00-10:35
Hang on: why remain overnight?
You might wonder why the operating aircraft remains overnight in Kenya and Angola. It is to drive connectivity, with ASKY’s entire fleet remaining overnight at outstations (i.e., not at Lomé). It incurs high costs from overnighting crew and conducting maintenance at destinations.
It results from only having one wave of flights a day, comprising one departure bank and one arrival bank. It means that ASKY barely uses some of its aircraft, with the implications of such low utilization clear.
The carrier generally only operates two roundtrip flights per aircraft in 24 hours, even on its shortest routes. It is almost unthinkable. However, one solution (to add a second wave) comes with various other considerations, costs, and problems.
60,000+ Luanda passengers
Like the carrier’s other routes, Nairobi and Luanda are timed for passengers to transit across West and Central Africa. Based on where they can connect, booking data shows that Luanda is a market of 60,000+ roundtrip passengers for ASKY, based on 2019, with around 165 passengers a day. Not many.
Being Africa, most people previously flew far out of their way from Luanda to West and Central Africa. Booking data indicates that most did so via Addis Ababa, Casablanca, or Johannesburg. Now there is a quicker, more logical transfer point to reach the regions.
Source: Simple Flying
