Turkish Airlines Plans West Africa Expansion

Turkish Airlines has signaled its intention to expand its West African network by adding flights to Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau.

In a statement, the airline says its board of directors has approved plans to launch scheduled service to Bissau, “subject to availability and market conditions.” No start date, aircraft type or operating frequency has been disclosed, and it remains unclear whether the service will be a nonstop from Istanbul or a tag-on to one of Turkish’s existing routes in the region.

However, Bissau would become Turkish’s 20th destination in Central and Western Africa, adding to a network that already spans 19 cities in 15 countries, including Abidjan, Accra, Conakry, Dakar and Lagos.

The Star Alliance member currently provides about 31,572 weekly seats in the subregion, up from 27,096 at this time last year and 29,260 in 2019 before the pandemic. Capacity growth in the past 12 months has been concentrated on flights to Ouagadougou, Bamako and Banjul.

The aviation market in Guinea-Bissau is limited in size and currently served by a handful of carriers. Analysis of OAG Schedules Analyser data shows just 3,415 weekly departure seats from the country—all on international services—spread across five carriers.

Royal Air Maroc has a 29% capacity share, followed by ASKY Airlines (28.2%), TAP Air Portugal (17.4%), Air Côte d’Ivoire (16%) and EuroAtlantic Airways (9.4%). Lisbon is the only European gateway served from Bissau, while other connections link the city with Abidjan, Casablanca, Dakar, Lomé and Praia.

Although Turkish already serves nearby Conakry, Guinea, there are no nonstop flights between Bissau and Conakry. The journey therefore takes more than 12 hr. by road, despite the cities being just 335 km (208 mi.) apart as the crow flies—highlighting the potential for Istanbul-Bissau flights to tap into regional flows while offering new one-stop connectivity to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The launch could also help Turkish capture traffic that currently relies on African hubs or Lisbon.

The move comes as Turkish pursues the acquisition of Air Europa. Earlier this month, the airline confirmed that its €300 million ($350 million) bid for a minority stake in Spanish leisure carrier had been accepted, with closing expected within six to 12 months subject to regulatory approvals.