ASKY CEO Esayas Woldemariam Hailu.
Privately owned West African carrier ASKY is planning its first service to Europe within a year with a flight to Paris, and intends to add widebodies to its currently all-Boeing 737 fleet to undertake this expansion.
The aim is to introduce two widebodies by the end of 2026 with the 787-8 the preferred option to inaugurate the Paris route, Esayas Woldemariam Hailu, CEO of Lomé-based ASKY, told Aviation Week at the African Airlines Association annual meeting in Luanda, Angola, in early December.
The higher cost of leasing widebodies has held ASKY back from introducing them up until now, but the carrier is “working on our financial muscle so once we are able to afford it, then we can do that,” Hailu added.
The carrier could already justify widebodies on its growing African network, he noted. “There is demand for a widebody when we look at the traffic volumes we carry on some stations ASKY serves within the continent of Africa.”
ASKY is discussing the addition of 787s with lessors in conjunction with its strategic partner Ethiopian Airlines, which holds a 24.9% stake in the airline.
The carrier, which began operating in 2010, took delivery of its sixth 737 MAX on Nov. 27 as it grows its narrowbody fleet to 15 aircraft this year.
Its sixth MAX is subleased from the Ethiopian Airlines Group with a further two scheduled to join the fleet in 2026 and another two in 2027, Hailu said. These join the airline’s nine 737-800s and are in addition to the prospect of widebodies being introduced.
Currently ASKY obtains its aircraft exclusively on sublease from Ethiopian. “It works because they have better financial muscle and creditworthiness than us,” he noted.
The 737-800s will be phased out in the next five to six years as ASKY moves to a core fleet of 737 MAXs, and the carrier is discussing its own direct order for narrowbodies with Boeing for deliveries beginning in 2032 as its financial performance strengthens, he explained.
Although the airline does not release public financial results, “ASKY has been net profitable for the last four years, and profit has been growing at higher single-digit rates year-on-year,” Hailu said.
To facilitate the expansion into longer-haul operations, ASKY is not only seeking widebodies but also expanding its regulatory approvals. “We are working with our [Civil Aviation Authority] in Togo to expand the AOC [air operator certificate] beyond the African region,” he said, with approval expected in the first quarter of 2026. At present, ASKY’s AOC is specifically for operations on the African continent.
ASKY has been growing its pan-African network from Lomé, increasing its number of destinations it serves from 23 to 30 this year.
In addition to Paris, ASKY is studying routes outside Africa to Beirut and Dubai, but the French capital is the priority, Hailu said. “For Paris we are planning to start by the end of 2026, hopefully to Charles de Gaulle, depending on slots, and we would like to strike a cooperation for intra-European destinations with other airlines.”
ASKY is a 100% privately owned airline created by regional banking institutions in Africa that includes the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development, the West African Development Bank, Ecobank Group and Togo State in partnership with Ethiopian Airlines.
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