ECS Group and Air Senegal mark seven years of cargo focus
ECS Group and Air Senegal signed a GSSA partnership agreement within less than a year of the young airline going into commercial operation. Since February 2019, ECS Group and its French subsidiary and contract-holder, Aero Cargo International France, have actively supported the development and expansion of Air Senegal’s cargo business in France, Europe, and many other international destinations.
With the end of the pandemic, Air Senegal successfully resumed its direct flights between Paris-CDG and Dakar-DSS in February 2025, and now operates a daily service on the route, offering around 15 tonnes and 70 m³ of cargo capacity per day. This is the main route in Air Senegal’s network and sees a lot of regular traffic which also feeds into the airline’s many regional destinations, including Abidjan (ABJ), Cotonou (COO), Conakry (CKY), Bamako (BKO), Accra (ACC), Lagos (LOS), Libreville (LBV) and Banjul (BJL). Air Senegal’s flights are operated with Airbus 320, Boeing 737 and ATR aircraft, and carry a wide variety of goods such as express freight and e-commerce, postal mail, perishables, pharmaceuticals, and general cargo including industrial goods, textiles, or IT equipment.
ECS Group actively contributes to the development of Air Senegal’s cargo business in France where French freight forwarders supply around 80% to 90% of the volumes flying Air Senegal out of Paris. Certain European and other global destinations also feed into Air Senegal’s network. ECS Group’s extensive commercial representation and interline agreements attract cargo flows from multiple international markets. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is just one example: every week, several tonnes of goods leave the UAE bound for Paris-CDG, where they are then forwarded to Senegal. Many ECS Group stations regularly contribute to the development of cargo flows. Aside from the UAE, these include Belgium, Germany and India, and occasionally, the Nordic countries. These cargo flows are pre-transported either by road from Europe, or by air through various airline interline agreements.
“Senegal and France have particularly strong historical, economic and cultural ties, and therefore a long-standing tradition of cooperation,” says Jean Ceccaldi, Chief Executive Officer of ECS Group. “Air Senegal Cargo and ECS Group play an essential role in strengthening these ties through daily flights linking Dakar and Paris-CDG. This service creates a genuine bridge between our two countries, facilitating trade and cargo flows. And the Air Senegal–ECS connection provides a strategic gateway between Africa and Europe, while creating opportunities for cargo flows to numerous international destinations through our respective networks.”
ECS Group also maintains close connections with local market stakeholders, including freight forwarders, postal operators and express carriers. It continues to implement interline solutions whenever required by Air Senegal, and promotes CargoTech digital solutions such as e-booking, dynamic pricing or the Wallet solution.
“ECS Group congratulates Air Senegal on the tremendous efforts it makes every day and will continue to support its expansion and growth in every way possible. Thank you for the first seven years of partnership,” Jean Ceccaldi, Chief Executive Officer of ECS Group, adds.
