In verse and against all pressures and maneuvers, the Senegalese authorities have not let go. They lasted until the end to regain their rights on the Dakar-Paris route, considered the most profitable line in the world.
Hitherto insured four times a day, two round trips by the Air France company managed by the French carrier Corsair, the Dakar-Paris link will be from the beginning of next year 2019, managed by Air Senegal. The young national company of Senegal has just confirmed that it takes the place of the French carrier from next February. It is without doubt, one of the most lucrative business that has just lost the French carrier, Corsair has used all means and all its weight to keep the line Dakar-Paris. This, in spite of the shutdowns of the exploitation contained in the agreement signed with the Senegalese State which stipulates that after 4 years of exploitation, the Senegalese State via its national company Air Senegal, requires the license of exploitation as soon as that he wishes. The managers of the French private company have tried to get the Senegalese authorities the extension of the contract until October 2019 to ensure the transition in better conditions. The leaders of Air Senegal oppose a categorical no to this proposal and then proposed to break the contract as of October 2018. Thus, the two parties finally agreed at the end of January 2019 only three weeks before the first round of the 24 February presidential election.
The only worry that provokes debate is how to launch an intercontinental line in just 5 months? But on the side of Air Senegal, we reassure and we say that everything is being done to succeed in this challenge. This does not reassure all the same because the specialists of the air sector doubt the feasibility especially that the company has not yet received its aircraft and does not yet have pilots. However, the French private company Corsair transported between the two capitals nearly 135,000 passengers each year, 45% of the market. The race against the clock is now launched for Air Senegal to meet the bet in five months.
