Air Senegal set to launch its first-ever route to the UK

Air Senegal will get its first and only nonstop route to the United Kingdom. This summer, the airline plans to launch a new nonstop seasonal route between Dakar and London.

The airline will utilise one of its soon-to-be-delivered A321 aircraft on the new route as of June 26, 2020. Given that slots at London's two largest airports — Heathrow and Gatwick — are hard to come by, Air Senegal will instead fly between London Stansted Airport (STN) and Dakar (DSS).

Related reading: 8 essential things to know before your first trip to Senegal

The STN-DSS route will be the only nonstop route between the two cities. The flights will operate on the following schedule on Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays:

• HC411 Dakar (DSS) 12:15 a.m. Departure ⇒ London (STN) 6:25 a.m. Arrival
• HC412 London (STN) 7:50 a.m. Departure ⇒ Dakar (DSS) 2:05 p.m. Arrival

The 2,738-mile journey is scheduled to take about five hours on the outbound leg and just over seven hours on the STN-DSS leg.

Since launching in 2016 after an investment from the Senegalese government, Air Senegal has been expanding its presence — especially in Europe and western Africa. Along with this London Stansted network addition, Air Senegal also plans to launch service to Geneva (GVA) as of 18 June for the summer season. It's also already added service to Barcelona, Paris and Marseilles.

The A321s that will soon be in Air Senegal's fleet feature a two-class configuration: business and economy. In business class, you can expect 16 lie-flat seats, while the economy cabin features 149 standard recline seats.

In addition to the A321s that the carrier will soon take delivery of, Air Senegal also has A330s, A319s, a leased Boeing 737 and two ATR 72-600s. In addition, at the Dubai Airshow in 2019, the carrier placed an order for eight Airbus A220 aircraft, a deal worth about $730 million.