ASKY Airlines

Douala to Accra via Lome. No real problems at check in just had to pay a little for excess baggage which was mercifully cheap. The only problem was finding the departure gate which was right at the end of the right arm. It looked closed until you navigated round a few doors. The flight left a little early. The aircraft for this leg into Lome was a new Q400. Basic snack was provided on what was a short flight. Lome was chaos - the airport is just not big enough to act as any sort of hub as it does for ASKY. So I only just made the connecting flight after all the queues. This time a new 737 for the 20 minute hop down to Accra. Again no problems with this leg. Overall a pretty good experience - they just need to sort out Lome. There is some construction work going on nearby so maybe that will be resolved.

I travelled Ghana to Freetown on ASKY. There were delays leaving Accra- but in Africa this is usually expected. On my return trip- from Freetown to Accra I arrived at the airport almost 3 hours early to find out - from the security guard - that the flight did not come in the night before so the flight was cancelled. No ASKY agent was there at that time so I waited more people showed up for the flight and they actually called their travel agent who called ASKY and said the flight was cancelled. They just booked on another airline and left. I purchased my ticket through Ethiopian Air and did not have any contact details (there are no phone numbers on the web site or anything). So I waited at the airport for an ASKY rep to tell me what to do and when the next flight would be. I waited until after my flight should have departed. Having no money and the hotels not taking credit cards I could not stay overnight to try the next day. Plus I missed my connection in Accra. So I had to purchase a British air flight to get home. Paying for a new ticket and forfeiting both my return ASKY flight as well as my flight home to Canada from Ghana. Once home I had my colleagues in get me contact info for ASKY. I emailed them and followed up with a phone call - I was told to contact my travel agent. I called Ethiopia air- and they said they have nothing to do with it. I have emailed ASKY numerous times no response. I highly recommend no one use this airline.

A great little airline launched recently in Togo with the backing of Ethiopian Airlines. The return journey from Banjul to Freetown was made as straightforward as possible by Asky who laid on the connecting bus and fast ferry as part of the ticket costs from the strangely located Lungi Airport on one side of the wide river estuary to Freetown on the other. Not all the airlines flying into Freetown do this so full marks to Asky. The flights were really smooth in good aircraft with courteous and helpful cabin crew. A very welcome discovery and an airline that I'm busily recommending now to friends and colleagues in Banjul & Freetown.