Sierra Leone Telegraph: 30 April 2026:
“Air Sierra Leone sincerely regrets to inform our valued customers that our aircraft provider for the London-Freetown and London-Banjul routes, Ascend Airways, has entered bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings, resulting in the immediate cessation of its operations. This unforeseen development has had a significant impact on our flight operations.”
That was the chilling message received yesterday by hundreds of passengers, that have bought advanced flight tickets from Air Sierra Leone to travel to London or London to Freetown, as well as regional routes.
What began as a promising business venture, though many critics had warned about the lack of proper due dilligence and sustainability of Air Sierra Leone’s business model, is now becoming a nightmare for passengers, and local investors who poured millions of dollars into starting up the Air Sierra Leone in Freetown by a Nigerian businessman.
Air Sierra Leone does not have assets – it does not own a single plane. Its business model is simply based on hiring excess flying capacity of airline owners with UK and European licence to fly.
Ascend – the UK registered Airliner that provides planes to Air Sierra Leone has gone bankrupt, handing over it operating certificate and returned its fleet of six Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft to its lessors, leaving Air Sierra Leone stranded.
According to reports, Ascend is blaming the ongoing sustained increase in jet fuel prices caused by the US-Iran war. Industry experts say that for Ascend Airways, these external pressures have compounded the structural challenges of operating a UK AOC within the European ACMI market.
A lack of reciprocal wet-lease rights for UK carriers, they say, combined with a higher cost base, has made the UK certificate a more expensive and less agile option than EU AOCs.
Combined with engine reliability with its CFM LEAP 1B engines on its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet, having impacted performance, resulting in increased maintenance requirements and reduced aircraft availability.
With all those issues, Ascend Airways has chosen to surrender its operator certificate in an orderly manner. The airline has met all its April payroll obligations in full ahead of the surrender of its AOC, and employees are receiving ongoing support regarding their rights and entitlements.
Ascend Airways is largely owned by Avia Solutions, who provide a variety of services, including ACMI and leasing, and has been working through some restructuring of its airline assets – notably KlassJet, AirExplore and SmartLynx – all of which were sold and closed.
The question now for Air Sierra Leone therefore, is this; if Ascend does not owe Air Sierra Leone any cash it may have paid in advance for passengers which must now be returned to Air Sierra Leone, then how long before those passengers start receiving their refund?
And, if Air Sierra Leone does not have the cash to refund their advanced booking passengers, will the government of Sierra Leone who acted as Guarantor for Air Sierra Leone when the company was being formed in Freetown, step in, to pay the refund to those passengers?
See Air Sierra Leone’s press statement below:
.
