Dana, ASKY  ink deal for strategic route, fleet expansion

• Mull next partners with domestic carriers

Dana Air today made good its promise as the carrier introduced a Boeing 738-700 airplane to its fleet. The carrier is gradually phasing out its MD-83 airplanes which had served it very well in the last ten years.

The introduction of the aircraft to its fleet would assist it to operate flights between Lagos and Abuja is part of partnership between it and ASKY.

Speaking to journalists shortly before the arrival of the aircraft, Chief Accountable Officer/ Chief Executive Officer for Dana, Obi Mbanuzuo said, We are glad to have been able to review our service to meet the demands of our teeming guests and we are also excited to announce the addition of a Boeing 737-700 aircraft from our partners, ASKY to our fleet. Our route and fleet expansion plan is still on course and we are committed to maintaining our operational efficiency by providing seamless and world-class services to all at all times.”

This is coming on the heels of  interline pact Dana and ASKY inked which is a commercial agreement in which one airline can sell the other’s segments, and each will maintain its own code, allowing customers to easily identify the operating airline.

Mbanuzuo said the partnership was part of the carrier’s strategic route and fleet expansion programme.

2We have taken a bold step towards achieving our strategic route and fleet expansion programme. With this partnership, we shall be adding some brand new aircraft to our fleet soon.

“We have also had advanced talks with some other notable aircraft manufacturers and very soon, some of aircraft outside the country on maintenance will be arriving. This is part of our desire to provide options for pour guests who have been requesting us to consider some under-served cities in Nigeria. We want to assure our guests of our commitment to providing safe, reliable, affordable and world class air transport services in Nigeria”.

The airline chief equally hinted that his airline was in advanced stage of code-share agreement with some domestic and international carriers which had signified interest.  For domestic carriers, he said all the grey areas are been worked out to make the plan seamless.

 A codeshare agreement, also known as codeshare, is an aviation business arrangement in which two or more airlines share the same flight. Sharing, in this sense, means that each airline publishes and markets the flight under its own airline designator and flight number as part of its published timetable or schedule.

He stated that ordinarily, code share with domestic airlines should be a problem if the partners play by the rules and ensure that they operate based on trust.