ECAir, Equatorial Congo Airlines, the national airline of the Republic of the Congo has announced its plans to launch a route to Dakar in Senegal via Bamako in Mali.

From March 22, 2015, the airline will operate the route from Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo three-times-weekly, departing from Brazzaville on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and from Dakar and Bamako on Wednesdays, Fridays and Mondays.

The new route will cater to the growing demand among ECAir passengers, to both Bamako and Dakar – which are two major West African capital cities.

"The inauguration of these two new flight routes to Bamako and Dakar, just a few weeks after the inauguration of Libreville as a destination and the establishment of a daily flight between Brazzaville/Paris and Brazzaville/Dubai, will see us strengthen our presence on the continent,” said Fatima Beyina-Moussa, Managing Director of Equatorial Congo Airlines.

Flights to Bamako and Dakar will be operated by the airline’s Boeing 757-200 aircraft, with a capacity of 148 seats – 16 in Business Class and 132 in Economy. From June 1, capacity will decrease slightly as the route will be operated using the airline’s Boeing 737-700 aircraft, with 12 Business Class seats and 112 Economy seats.

The new route represents a crucial and strategic step in ECAir’s expansion process, and the airline said in it statement that it hopes it will allow them to strengthen the level of cooperation between Congo, Mali and Senegal, as well as with the rest of West Africa.

“This year, within the scope of expanding our network and our fleet, we are aiming to transform Maya-Maya Airport into a real Central African hub by offering our passengers a number of rotations and a first-class service," added Beyina-Moussa.

ECAir transported 360,000 passengers in 2014, and operates up to 138 weekly flights from Brazzaville to Paris CDG, Dubai, Cotonou, Douala, Libreville, Pointe-Noire and Ollombo.

The airline is also the first Congolese airline to connect the continent directly to the Middle East, with daily flights to Dubai and Europe as well as a daily flight to Paris.