Welcome Arik Air!

We once again welcome another airline to the country's aviation industry-Arik Air limited.

This is, of course, a welcome development in the Gambian airline industry and a cause of joy and hope for travelers.

Arik Air, one of Nigeria's leading commercial airlines has announced plans to commence services between Banjul, Dakar, Freetown, and Lagos, thus ending years of limited air travel services between these four cities.

According to a press release from the airline, the inaugural flight will take place tomorrow, and the new service will operate four times a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

This is indeed a welcome development and a sigh of relief for the air travelers in the sub-region.

This development will no doubt boost up trade and commerce within the sub-region.

The coming of the new airline will address month's long of air transport difficulties faced by passengers travelling by air between Banjul and Dakar. During the past few months since Air Senegal announced bankruptcy so many people who had wanted to travel between Banjul and Dakar were forced to go by land against their will.

While wishing our Nigerian brothers best of luck, we also encourage them to make the best use of this opportunity.

We also urged them to work hard to ensure its sustainability, as over the years we have been seeing a reasonable number of airlines coming into the country only to disappear after a short sojourn.

The commencement of the services from Banjul by the airline will improve accessibility, and help the country to develop stronger economic ties and trade relations with its West African neighbours.

Arik Air's arrival on the market is expected to stimulate further travel, ease movement of travelers and goods and provide affordable air travel to communities in the Mano river region.

The airline has promised its prospective passengers of world-class service on the new routes. "We will not compromise on safety and will go the extra mile to ensure the satisfaction of our increasing customer base. This is a new dawn for air transportation on Africa's west coast," McTighe said.

The management of Arik Air should strive to maintain high sense of security in their operations.

Back home we urged the concerned authorities to consider reducing landing fees so as to encourage more airlines to come to Banjul.

Customers' satisfaction is one way of retaining and securing more passengers. In this regard, we urged the new airline to ensure customers satisfaction.