Togo’s ASKY signs for two used B737 Max with Irish lessor Aercap

May 22, 2023 in Business, Companies, Transport, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Dublin based lessor AerCap today has signed lease agreements for a pair of used Boeing 737-8 MAX aircraft with Togo based carrier, with deliveries scheduled for June and August.

The announcement was made today at a signing ceremony in Dublin headlined by ASKY chief executive Esayas W. HAILU, Aercap CEO, Aengus Kelly, and Ethiopian Airlines Group chairman and aviation advisor to Togo, Mr. Girma Wake.

Aengus Kelly said the lessor was “delighted to welcome ASKY as a new customer to AerCap and particularly pleased to place the first MAX in Togo.”

“AerCap is the largest lessor in Africa with 14 airline customers on the continent, and we are pleased to continue to support the growth and development of African aviation. We wish the ASKY team every success and look forward to working with them as these aircraft deliver.”

Privately owned ASKY currently operates a fleet of twelve aircraft including eight Boeing 737-800s and four Boeing 737-700s. It operates a network serving twenty-six destinations in twenty-four countries, mainly within West and Central Africa but also has services to Southern and Eastern Africa. The carrier is owned by a consortium of African regional banks among them The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), The West African Development Bank (BOAD) and ECOBANK Group (ETI) with Ethiopian Ethiopian Airlines as a junior partner. Ethiopian is the force behind the airlines management providing business and strategic leadership.

ASKY says it will use the new acquisitions to expand its intra-African network. “I consider it an honor to introduce state-of-the-art B737-8 MAX aircraft into the ASKY fleet, which will support our wide regional network in our continuous endeavor to serve our esteemed customers,” chief executive Esayas W. HAILU, said.

I am confident that the introduction of B737-8 MAX will further enhance ASKY’s brand image before the eyes of the traveling public. It feels great to be the region’s leading customer to AerCap, the world’s largest owners of commercial aircraft,” he added.

ASKY is one of five African airlines in which Ethiopian acquired a stake to circumvent market access barriers in Africa’s heavily protected skies. It owns 40percent of the carrier, 49 percent in Guinea Airways, 49 percent in Malawi Airlines, 49percent in Nigeria Air and 45 percent in Zambia Airways.

Namibia was also reported to have initiated talks with Ethiopian for a role in reviving the defunct Air Namibia. According to CH-Aviation, Namibian President Hage Geingob met with Ethiopian Airlines’ chairman, Girma Wake, and Chief Executive Officer Mesfin Tasew in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government last February.