Air Côte d'Ivoire is the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hi ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

, based in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

. The company succeeded the country's former

Air Ivoire Air Ivoire was an airline headquartered in the ''Immueble EECI'' in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. It was the national airline and operated scheduled regional and intercontinental services. Its main base was Port Bouet Airport, Abidjan.Flight Internatio ...

, which went bankrupt in 2011. It started operations on .

History

The airline was set up on , as a private-public entity, partially owned by

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

– which intended to make

Port Bouet Airport A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

a regional hub – and the

Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development SA is a Swiss for-profit entity and international development finance institution which invests in countries of East Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland ...

(AKFED). Air Côte d'Ivoire had an initial capital of CFAF2.5 billion, majority-owned by the

government of Ivory Coast The Politics of Ivory Coast takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Ivory Coast is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is ...

(65%), with the balance held by Air France Finance (20%) and Aérienne de Participation-Côte d'Ivoire (15%), an airline holding company of AKFED. The Ivory Coast had had no national carriers since the collapse of

in . The airline will have "technical, commercial and operational synergies" with Air Mali and

Air Burkina Air Burkina SA is the national airline of Burkina Faso, operating scheduled services from its main base at Ouagadougou AirportFlight International 27 March 2007 to one domestic destination, Bobo-Dioulasso, as well as regional services to Togo, Be ...

, two other airlines associated with the AKFED. , it was planned for the new company to have 13 flight captains, 12 first officers and 37 cabin crew. The company projects to have a passenger capacity of 330,000 per year. It carried 253,000 passengers during 2013.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

, the parent entities of the shareholders are: The

was a 15% shareholder until 2013, when it was reported that it would withdraw from Air Côte d'Ivoire. The shareholding was acquired by Golden Road, a consortium of private Ivorian investors, with shareholdings changing following subsequent fundraising.

Business trends

Air Côte d'Ivoire does not appear to publish annual accounts, but some figures have been made available via press reports, interviews and other publications (figures shown for years ending 31 December):

Key people

, Air Côte d'Ivoire

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

or General Manager (''Directeur Général'') is Laurent Loukou.

Destinations

, the airline had initial plans to operate scheduled services from its hub in Abidjan on a network covering nine international destinations in

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...

, although some of them would be flown by sister companies

and Air Mali. Cities served with Air Côte d'Ivoire's own aircraft were expected to include

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...

Cotonou Cotonou (; fon, Kútɔ̀nú) is a city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The ci ...

and

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

. Operations commenced on , with the

carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alw ...

linking Abidjan with

. , Air Côte d'Ivoire serves the following destinations:

Fleet

Current fleet

, Air Côte d'Ivoire operated the following aircraft:

Fleet strategy

The carrier took delivery of its first aircraft, an ex-Air France

Airbus A319 The Airbus A319 is a member of the Airbus A320 family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The A319 carries 124 to 156 passengers and has a maximum range of . Final assem ...

manufactured in 2004, in on lease from Macquarie AirFinance. During the 2013 Dubai Air Show, it was announced the carrier placed a conditional order for up to four

Bombardier Q400 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

s. Worth million, a firm order was announced in .

African Export-Import Bank African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

will finance 95% of the acquisition. The carrier plans to use one of these aircraft to replace the E-170 on regional services. The first Dash 8-Q400 was delivered in late 2014. An additional order for two more aircraft of the type was placed in . An order comprising two

Airbus A320neo The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus. The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...

s and two Airbus A320ceos that was placed in was boosted in July the same year when an additional A320neo was ordered.

Historical fleet

The airline has operated the following aircraft: *

Embraer 170 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding E ...

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Air Cote d'Ivoire Airlines of Ivory Coast Airlines established in 2012 Government-owned airlines Companies based in Abidjan Ivorian companies established in 2012