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Since launching operations in 2010,Togos Asky Airlines has cemented itsstatus as the dominant home-grownentity in west Africas fragmented aviationmarket.

The airline was founded at the behest of theEconomic Community of West African States(ECOWAS), an alliance of 15 nations thatcorrectly identified air connectivity as apotential catalyst for the sub-regions fortunes.

Today, Asky deploys an eight-strong fleet four Bombardier Dash 8 Q400s, three Boeing737-700s, and one 737-400F freighter to 22points in west Africa, stretching from Dakar onthe westernmost tip of the continent to thecentral African metropolis of Kinshasa.

And although 60% of its traffic is routedthrough the Togolese capital Lom, chiefexecutive Yissehak Zewoldi is not blind to theeconomic powerhouse across his westernborder.

Ghanas gross domestic product (GDP) wasmore than 10 times higher than Togos in 2013,according to the World Bank, totalling $103billion when measured by purchasing powerparity. The countrys well-established reputationas a magnet for foreign investment has deliveredfour consecutive years of GDP growth above7%, and capital inflows are being accompaniedby a steady influx of foreign businesspeople.

The Ghana Airports Company recorded 1.67million international passengers last year amodest dip on the 2012 figure, but enough forAccra to retain its title as the busiest westAfrican hub outside of Nigeria.

Little wonder that Star Alliance membersEthiopian Airlines, South African Airways(SAA) and EgyptAir, are all evaluating Accra asa springboard for the sub-region.

For Asky, however, which is under a five-year

Having developed a thriving network from its Togolese home base,Asky Airlines is cautiously evaluating a new satellite hub inGhana. Martin Rivers talks to chief executive Yissehak Zewoldi.

management contract with 40% stakeholderEthiopian Airlines, Ghanas rising star isbecoming a double-edged sword.

Zewoldi may be keen to expand the airlinespresence in Accra envisioning a secondary basethat can tap into Ghanaian traffic flows but herefuses to do anything which could underminethe primary hub in Lom.

Absolutely no, the chief executive said, whenasked if he would relocate Asky to Ghana. Lomwill remain our hub. But we have the capacity todevelop a satellite hub in Accra.

We can use the aircraft down-time duringthe night to operate out of Accra. With orwithout partners, this is an on-going project forAsky. We have formulated some ideas and, in acouple of months, we will go for theimplementation Its not only Accra, we arealso considering Cotonou [across the easternborder with Benin].Askys existing and future partners areundoubtedly pushing Zewoldi towards theGhanaian capital. At present, EthiopianAirlines uses Lom as its west African base,codesharing with the Togolese carrier while also

operating fifth-freedom flights to Sao Paulo andRio de Janeiro.

But chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam lastyear revealed that the Star Alliance is calling on itsAddis Ababa-based member to re-route trafficthrough Accra. Most of our partners fly to Ghanaand, therefore, that will be a good meeting point,he said, referring to transfer opportunities with thelikes of Lufthansa and SAA.

The Star Alliance is encouraging us to operatea second [west African] hub in Accra, so we areexamining that.

Yet SAA has also publicly encouraged Asky tore-evaluate Accras role. Chief executiveMonwabisi Kalawe recently said he wouldconsider investing in the Togolese carrier if itshifted operations to Ghana. Zewoldi shot downthat suggestion, however, saying there are nodirect talks between Asky and South AfricanAirways at this point in time.

Insisting that the clarion calls about Accra arenothing new within African aviation circles, henoted that various proposals had been floatedaround the turn of the decade.

There was a Star Alliance initiative three or

Zewoldi plans for ahome from Lom...

TOGO

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Togolese home base. The capitals of Guinea,Sierra Leone and Liberia had also been used foronward connections before the outbreak ofEbola, and Zewoldi is constantly looking for newlinkages.

If there are market opportunities, I am surewe will jump on them, he said, predicting thatthe satellite hub in Accra will evaluate non-stopservices to destinations like Bamako, Brazzaville,Dakar, Kinshasa, Ndjamena and Niamey.

Entirely new regional points are also on theagenda, with Nouakchott in Mauritania, Luandain Angola, and Equatorial Guinea all beingconsidered. Progress may be slow on thesefronts, however, as Zewoldi admitted that thereare some bilateral issues in this part of Africa even for an airline as well connected politically asAsky.

In the meantime, Johannesburg and Beirut areboth in the pipeline for early 2015. Launchingmedium-haul routes will be a significantmilestone for Asky, which has, hitherto, focusedsolely on the sub-region. Their addition will bemade possible by the delivery of another fouraircraft over the coming five years, most likelyincluding 737-800s.

Zewoldi is candid when discussing thecompetitive landscape across west Africa,accepting that other start-ups, such as Air CtedIvoire and Gambia Bird, are also filling the voidleft by Air Afrique.

But he insists that Asky remains in poleposition due to its entrenched network andstrong support from the Togolese authorities.We have the first-mover advantage in westAfrica, and we have also developed a very strongreputation with the travelling public, the chiefexecutive concluded. With completion of thenew terminal building, Lom will be even moreattractive.

four years ago, where African membersdeveloped an African strategy, Zewoldi recalled.Based on that guideline, the three airlines Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir and South AfricanAirways were exploring areas of mutual interestwhere they can cooperate and extend theirmarket reach. This project was aimed at forminga partnership in west Africa and central Africa.

SAA had previously devoted much of itsattention to the long-running Air CEMACproject, which took its name from the CentralAfrican Economic and Monetary Community.Air CEMAC was conceived as a successor to AirAfrique, the transnational carrier for French-speaking parts of west and central Africa thatceased operations in 2002.

After failing to agree on the planned hub forAir CEMAC SAA favoured Douala, while thestart-ups regional backers wanted Congo-Brazzaville the South African airline, togetherwith Egypts flag-carrier, began exploringopportunities further west.

So EgyptAir and SAA came to Lom, saw thehub, and they found it to be very interesting,Zewoldi continued. Unfortunately, EgyptAir

and South African fly into Accra, not Lom. Soan idea emanated from the discussions that Askywill have a Lom hub, but also extend some of itsflights from Accra to points of interest forEgyptAir and South African.

Ultimately, however, the idea was notentertained at the speed that was expected and itfell by the wayside. EgyptAir, instead, decided toacquire 50% of defunct Ghanaian operatorCiTylinK, while Ethiopian raised its stake in Askyfrom 25% to 40%.

SAAs hunt for a west African partner,meanwhile, continues, and Zewoldi does not ruleout some form of Asky cooperation in the future.

Togo, like Ghana, is investing in a newterminal for its capitals airport, lifting annualcapacity at Lom to two million passengers. But,despite Askys centralised network, it would bewrong to describe the airline as a traditional hub-and-spoke operator.

Poor connectivity across west Africa hascreated myriad opportunities to link up foreigncountries with fifth-freedom flights. Thus, routessuch as Abuja-NDjamena and Bamako-Dakarallow Asky to develop traffic flows far beyond its

If there aremarketopportunities,I am sure wewill jump onthem.YISSEHAK ZEWOLDI