Nigeria's Dana Air outlines B737 ops due from late 3Q18

Dana Air (9J, Lagos) has announced it will shortly take delivery of a B737-700 on wet-lease from fellow West African operator, ASKY Airlines (KP, Lomé).
In a statement, Dana Air Media and Communications Manager, Kingsley Ezenwa, said the Boeingnarrowbody would be deployed on "early bird" flights between Lagos and Abuja effective September 10.
"The introduction of the 737-700 aircraft is part of our ongoing partnership with ASKY airlines and it will operate two daily flights from Abuja to Lagos at 0702L and 1611L and a return service from Lagos to Abuja at 0855L and 1803L," he said.
Last year, Chief Operating Officer Obialor Mbanuzuo told ch-aviation the Nigerian carrier would take the B737 on a year-long lease.
Mbanuzuo also said the B737-700 was an ideal candidate for renewal given it more or less offers comparable seating capacity to Dana Air's existing McDonnell Douglas fleet. As such, aside from its improved operational parameters as compared to its fleet of one MD-82 and three MD-83s, the B737-700 would also allow Dana Air to explore new West African routes within a 3-hour flying radius from its Lagos base.

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Dana Air inks ASKY interline, B737 lease deal

Dana Air (9J, Lagos) has signed a partnership agreement with Togo-based ASKY Airlines (KP, Lomé) which will foster the Nigerian carrier's route network growth as well as fleet renewal plans.
In a statement, Dana Air said that under the initiative, it had inked an interline agreement with ASKY along with an aircraft partnership agreement which will see the wet-lease of a B737-700 from ASKY on a one-year contract. No delivery dates were disclosed.
Airline Chief Operating Officer Obialor Mbanuzuo has since told ch-aviation that Dana Air would initially wet-lease in the aircraft which could then transition to either a damp- or even dry-lease contract later on.
Dana Air currently operates an all-McDonnell Douglas fleet of one MD-82 and four MD-83s on scheduled passenger flights covering Lagos, Abuja, Owerri, Port Harcourt Omagwa, and Uyo.
Last year, Mbanuzuo told ch-aviation that the B737-700 was an ideal candidate for renewal given it more or less offers comparable seating capacity to the MD fleet. He also noted at the time that the B737-700 would also allow the airline to venture into the West African market operating routes within a 3-hour flying radius from its Lagos base.
For its part, Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa) affiliate ASKY operates three B737-700s, one B737-800, and four Dash 8-400s on flights covering 24 destinations across West and Central Africa.

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