Arik Air (W3, Lagos) Deputy Managing Director, Captain Ado Sanusi, says his airline is considering developing Cotonou Cadjehoun into a regional West African hub. Speaking during the launch of Arik's newest regional service - Lagos to Abidjan via Cotonou - Sanusi said the Béninoise capital could be developed into a hub to rival that of Lomé, home to Ethiopian Airlines's West African operation, ASKY Airlines (KP, Lomé).
“We are not flying through Lomé Airport for strategic reasons. Besides, we want to build Cotonou as another hub because Lomé is being developed by one of our competitors and so we want to do the same thing with Cotonou," he said. "It is a Francophone country we are going in and we are connecting it to Lagos via Cotonou. So it is a market that has been untapped ad we have looked at it and we think it is very important, not only for destination Lagos but also for other destinations that we fly. We are looking at other routes in Africa. Once we are convinced of their viability we may expand our operations there.”
Asky has managed to successfully establish itself as a leading West African carrier offering extensive connectivity throughout the region as well as into Central Africa.
Benin unveiled plans to replace Cotonou Cadjehoun Airport with a new, larger facility at Glo-Djigbé in 1974 though the project has remained largely stagnant since then. The project was revived by a private South African investor in 2011 before passing into the hands of the South African government. South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) has alluded to plans to develop its own West African hub with analysts pointing to Accra as a strong possible candidate.
