New Airline ‘Air Sierra Leone’ Announces Direct Flights from London to Freetown

The recently formed airline, Air Sierra Leone, has announced dates for its new direct flight route operating between London and the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown. Starting in December 2024, this will become the only serving direct flight route between these destinations. It will be operated initially by Xejet Aviation, a Nigerian based airline and will depart from London Gatwick Airport. 

The airline’s maiden flight is scheduled for the second of December 2024, and its London-Freetown route will operate three times a week. Other destinations proposed by this airline include Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Accra (Ghana), Monrovia (Liberia), Banjul (Gambia), Dakar (Senegal) and Conakry (Guinea). This will connect key coastal West African metropolitan hubs. 

The future flagbearer will comprise a fleet of two Boeing 737-MAX and 1 Embraer aircrafts. The average flight time from London to Freetown will be around 6 hours. Currently, only 6 airlines operate flights connecting the U.K. to Sierra Leone, none of which are direct. This means that the introduction of Air Sierra Leone’s new route will present a particularly attractive alternative to those seeking fast and easy access to Freetown from London Gatwick airport. 

Safety Concerns

At the present moment, Freetown Airport is on the European Union’s safety list, meaning it has been assessed to foster unsafe aviation standards and does not meet the requirements of the European Union Commission for Safety. This has negatively affected the likelihood of prospective flight routes to member states of the European Union. The Director General of the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority has persisted in attempting to improve the standards of this airport, overseeing many new training initiatives for airport staff and strengthening ties between European aviation authorities. The introduction of Air Sierra Leone and this new direct London-bound flight will help strengthen ties to Europe, she reports.

“This celebration of Air Sierra Leone has many implications. Besides the benefits of what they offer, we as the state will use this opportunity to leverage on our ambition to be removed from the EU safety list.”

Past Sierra Leonean Airlines

Historically, Sierra Leone has seen an abundance of short-lived flag bearing airlines. Its last successful national airline, Sierra Leone Airways, ceased operations in 2006 after a career of 48 years. Fly Salone was the most recent attempt being a flagbearer, but collapsed financially after one year of service in 2016.