It took a while, but Air Sierra Leone has confirmed flights to London. It is a new airline with the IATA code YD. After an initial Freetown to London Gatwick round-trip service in April, a regular operation using a Boeing 737 MAX 8 from Ascend Airways will begin in June. Due to Air Sierra Leone’s UK ban, its operating permit is conditional on using a UK operator. It’ll be a costly setup. It will be the fourth carrier to join Gatwick’s ranks in 2025, building on multiple others in the past few years.
At 2,627 nautical miles (4,865 km) each way, Air Sierra Leone’s brand-new route will become London’s longest nonstop 737-operated service. It will also be the third longest from the UK, surpassed by Edinburgh-Toronto and Edinburgh-Montreal. In the past, London has had some even longer 737 flights, including to Abuja (Arik Air), Khartoum (Badr Airlines), and Lagos (Arik Air and MedView).
Air Sierra Leone To Begin Gatwick Flights
As Sierra Leone was a British colony, London was Freetown’s most trafficked market anywhere last year. Booking data suggests 22,000 local round-trip passengers, most of whom flew to/from Heathrow with Brussels Airlines and Royal Air Maroc, which will be the most affected carriers. Even Air Sierra Leone’s lowest fare includes two 23kg bags, an important consideration for the diaspora.
Last year, the market’s average one-way fare (across all passengers/cabins) was a decent $877 (including a fuel surcharge), higher than many other London-Africa markets. This was probably influenced by travel for its many minerals and the growing oil and gas industry.
The country’s new flag carrier will initially focus on the local market. However, passengers will soon be able to connect via Freetown to Lagos and, in the future, potentially other cities in Anglophone African nations. You can tell from the following schedule where the operating aircraft will be based, as befits a UK carrier.
Ascend Airways Plans 4 MAXs
Ascend, owned by the Avia Solutions Group, was previously called Synergy Aviation. Like many alternatives, it provides aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance (ACMI; wet leasing), and charter services. In Air Sierra Leone’s case, Ascend will provide ACMI. The carrier currently has three aircraft: one Boeing 737-800 and two 737 MAX 8s. However, ch-aviation shows two more MAXs are coming.
All four MAXs, summarized below, are in a bog-standard, single-class, 189-seat layout (3-3). Air Sierra Leone’s website says it will have two classes: economy and premium economy. The latter includes ‘premium seating,’ as you’d expect. However, its website does not specify what this comprises, but it should. It surely means either exit row seats or the middle seat left free, as with the Euro business class.
London’s New Longest 737 Service
Using OAG data to examine every planned long UK 737 flight shows that the following five airport pairs will cover the most ground based on the great circle. The number one entry, WestJet between Toronto and Edinburgh, will have a record 11 weekly flights this summer, up from the previously planned daily operation.
Notice Montreal to Edinburgh, a route that Air Canada announced on March 26. Edinburgh has not had Montreal flights before, and the Canadian flag carrier will, of course, only operate during the summer. It contributes to the Scottish capital surpassing one million US/Canada seats this year.
