You would think that with the large distances between most capital cities in West Africa, intra-regional air travel would be thriving. In fact, it is the opposite. There are not many carriers, operational costs are high, and most people living in the region can’t afford the tickets. Whereas you may be able to find a long distance bus ticket for $45-50 (one-way), a flight between the same two cities might be five times that or more.

For convenience, efficiency and comfort, you obviously can’t beat flying. So if you are willing to pony up some extra cash, there are some options. As we mentioned in our guide to getting cheap flights to West Africa, some of them are better than others.

Asky Airlines

Asky is a subsidiary of Ethiopian Airlines. Their hub is in Lomé, Togo. They fly to every major capital city in West Africa. They are often called the “taxi of West Africa.” A mini-bus is probably more accurate. Direct flights are rare and most itineraries involve picking up and dropping off passengers several times depending on your final destination. That said, they offer the most flexibility and their prices are usually the cheapest.

Carriers based outside of the region

Some of these carriers offer cheaper regional flights than the airlines that are actually based here. Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways both run flights between certain West African capital cities on their way to and from their hubs in Addis Ababa and Nairobi respectively. For example, you may be able to find a cheaper flight from Abidjan to Dakar with Kenya Airways (on a flight that started in Nairobi and makes a stop in Abidjan) than you can with Air Côte d’Ivoire.

Royal Air Maroc is another international carrier that sometimes has cheaper tickets between regional capitals than the regionally-based airlines. Unfortunately, this often means flying first to Casablanca and then back to West Africa.

National Airlines in West Africa

Air Burkina
Air Côte d’Ivoire
Arik Air (Nigerian)
Dana Air (Nigerian)
Mauritanian Airlines
Senegal Airlines
Transair (Senegal)

In some cases, it may be cheaper to book in a local travel agency or in the office of the airline itself rather than on the internet.

The airport of Ziguinchor

Of these national carriers, Air Côte d’Ivoire has the greatest number of destinations with Senegal Airlines not far behind.

Safety

African airlines are often maligned for having poor aircraft and safety records. However, most of the airlines operating in the region have relatively new aircraft and not many reported incidents. Dana Air is one exception. They had a crash as recently as 2012 in which all passengers perished.

Mauritania Airlines was previously on the EU ban list, but the ban has been lifted since 2012.

The most recent incident in the region happened with an Air Algerie flight in 2017 in which dangerous rainy season storm conditions caused the plane to crash at high speeds, killing everyone aboard. It is also worth mentioning that while it was an Air Algerie plane it was a Spanish crew running the flight and a Spanish company that had leased the airline itself.

Other notable accidents that have happened in the recent past occurred with airlines that are no longer in operation.

Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/suratlozowick/4259062038