► NIGER: Air Niamey takes on its first A320; domestic ops in conjunction with Equaflight Niger to begin shortly.

Air Niamey (A7) has taken delivery of its first of two Airbus A320-200s, (MCN 314 | ex-N389VL). The A320 was transferred from the US aircraft registry to the Nigerien one on June 19.

Equaflight/Air Niamey's planned flights
(Equaflight)

The successor to the now defunct Air Niger, the former government-backed national carrier, Air Niamey's operations have focussed on providing ACMI charters for Hajj/Umrah. It is now, however, believed to be entering into the local Nigerien scheduled services market where plans have been announced to begin twice weekly Niamey to Zinder flights, with Agadez under consideration, in conjunction with Equaflight Niger.

Interestingly enough, the airline maintains an address in Istanbul, Turkey, leading to some speculation about a potential Turkish Airlines (TK) involvement in the carrier.

However, it is to be recalled that in February, shortly after the Nigerien government announced plans to launch a new national airline, Niger Airways, in conjunction with Turkish Airlines, the Turks promptly issued a rebuttal stating it had "not made any decisions regarding the issue."