Review: Air Cote D'Ivoire A320neo Economy Lagos-Abidjan
Intro
The next stop on this great African adventure would see me heading back West, flying to the city we flew right over on the way to Lagos with United Airlines. My destination for the day would be Dakar, Senegal, but the problem is that there are only direct flights from Lagos to Dakar once a week. Thus, I had to connect in Abidjan with Air Cote d'Ivoire.
Not much is known about Air Cote d'Ivoire from what I read online. Very few reviews have been published, and I haven't seen a single (written) report on the A320neo. As of now, there are only three A320neos in the whole of Africa, so when I discovered the sole Air Cote D'Ivoire A320neo at my gate in Lagos, I was overly excited about the aircraft swap.
As a avid football fan, the first thing that came to mind when thinking of the Ivory Coast was "yaya, yaya yaya yaya yaya yaya yaya yaya Toure! Kolo..."
Air Cote d'Ivoire was quite a decent airline on this* leg. The aircraft was modern with beautiful lighting, the pilots seemed outsourced for France, a decent snack was offered, and we ended up landing early. Let's get into it!
Route-Lagos (LOS)-Abidjan (ABJ)
Seat- 21F
Flight Number- HF827
Aircraft- Airbus A320neo
Date- June 1st 2024
Flight Time: 1 Hour 23 Minutes
Price Paid- 627$ (LOS-ABJ-DSS)
How I Booked
The continent of Africa has to be the most expensive continent to fly around. On the day I had to be in Dakar, there were no direct flights from Lagos. Thus, the most efficient and cheapest option would be to book a flight between Lagos and Abidjan, continuing onto Dakar for an hour on the Ivory Coast.
Here is where the price hiked: I didn't know if I needed a visa to transit in Abidjan, so I reached out to different people and the embassy before booking. When I came back to book 10 days before departure, the price was 627$ in economy. Needless to say, nobody knew/answered...
The other reasonable option you have when it comes to flying between the two cities is with ASKY connecting through Lome, but this was over 1000$ for my dates at the time🥴.
Getting To Lagos Airport
Waking up refreshed and with no jetlag (somehow) at my Airbnb, the police escort came to pick me up and take me off to the airport.
This morning, they showed up in a Maybach Van... The luxury that I was being treated to was unbelievable during my time here. When I got back, I sent a nice gift to my mate since he really did go above and beyond...
Once again, our police escort would block the road as we made turns/U turns. Unreal experience...
The drive to the airport is about 45 minutes, and we passed by some unbelievable sights. This one guy was just chilling out the car while it was driving 80+ km/h on a highway😅. So cool.
It was a gorgeous day to be alive in Lagos.
Check-In
Arriving at the airport, the nerves started to kick in. See, I still wasn't sure if I would be able to get on this flight, as I did not have a visa to Cote d'Ivoire, and nobody on the internet knew anything.
I tipped the policemen while the immigration assistant from the day prior came to collect me. Once again, we were using the new terminal at Lagos...
Air Cote d'Ivoire operates 4 different check-in desks at Lagos. One for business class, and the others for economy. Stepping up to the lady, my arms trembled with fear; I had to get on this plane.
She asked to see my visa, but not for the Ivory Coast, for Senegal. I informed her that US passports didn't need a visa and was met with an "okay."
Minutes later, I had both my boarding passes. Phew...
Around Lagos Airport
Before clearing immigration, I was in dire need of a coffee. There was a stand, by check-in, selling coffee, but only the powdered one. Thus, I decided to wait until I cleared immigration.
Clearing security, I had about an hour to kill until boarding. This means one thing in my eyes (with no laptop): time to get those steps in!
And plane-spotting. Much like this Qatar Airways 787-8 operating the morning flight to Doha. QR serves Lagos twice daily.
There was a single cafe in the new terminal that happened to be tucked away in the back corner. A buck fifty for a cappuccino is not too bad at all.
The majority of the main airlines still use the old terminal due to most lounges/restaurants being there. These are interconnected and about a 10-minute walk away from each other.
Boarding
With a scheduled departure time of 10:45 am, I thought the 9:00 am boarding time shown on the screen was quite premature🥴. I mean, boarding an A320 an hour and 45 minutes beforehand is a bit ridiculous...
Not wanting to miss the flight, I headed over to the gate at 9 am and waited...
10:00 am came around, and the gate agents announced boarding time. Great, time to get on the plane, or so I thought.
There was a baggage inspection once heading down to the holding area. Before you ask, of course, I was asked for money for "coffee."
Nope, it's just another holding area...
We ended up sitting around for about 20 minutes before we once again got called for boarding. However, this time, it was for real.
Gosh, this livery is beautiful...
Stepping onboard, there was no welcome onboard of the sort. It was more or less a "let's get on our way sort of vibe."
The Seat/Cabin
Seats on the sole A320neo in West Africa are arranged with 16 business class seats across 4 rows in a 2-2 configuration. It looked like a solid product, but nothing exceptional. Interestingly, the business cabin went out almost empty.
In the economy class section, where I was seated, seats were arranged in a 3-3 configuration with a generous pitch of 32 inches. Having spent most of my day in this seat, it felt relatively spacious.
Additionally, universal power outlets were located between the seats.
However, the seat was pretty barebones. The one aspect that really impressed me was the ambient lighting throughout the Neo cabin.
Departure
Boarding was complete around 10:40 am, and a French-speaking man came on to announce our 1 hour and 4 minute flight time over Abidjan this morning. He expected an early arrival in Abidjan and, hopefully, an early arrival.
We pushed back a couple of minutes behind schedule.
Within minutes, we were rolling out to the runway at a rapid rate of knots. Heck, we even skipped about the first 2-3000 feet of runway and just began a rolling takeoff out of Lagos.
Once airborne, the view were gorgeous over Lagos and its airport.
Snack Service
For a flight that is just over 500 miles, I wasn't expecting much. However, as soon as we cleared the clouds, the cabin crew snapped into action to bring around food/drink items for all passengers.
There was only one option for food: bread and a croissant. In terms of drinks, free wine, soda, water, coffee, and juice were available. Nothing special, but it was a nice touch to receive a free "snack box" per se.
As I soaked in the beautiful views of this sunny day over Africa, I noticed something unbelievable. The interior colors change to the livery colors inside of the plane. How friggin cool is that?
IFE/WIFI
Air Cote d'Ivoire currently operates a fleet of 8 aircraft. Four A319s, 2 A320-200s, 1 A320neo, and one Dash 8. However, Air Cote d'Ivoire has also just placed an order for two A330-800neos, and they plan to begin long-haul flights. On their A320 and A338 fleet (when it arrives), Air Cote d'Ivoire does offer IFE+Wifi on your personal electronic device. However, during this flight, I couldn't find a way to connect or even see the purchase options. Sorry.
Arrival
Approximately 40 minutes after takeoff, the captain informed us that we had begun our initial descent into Abidjan. He mentioned that there might be a bit of turbulence due to weather in the area and informed the cabin crew to prepare for landing.
We touched down on a gloomy day in the Ivory Coast 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Gotta say, the captain completely aced the landing, especially with the conditions that pursued.
A couple of moments later, we pulled into a remote stand. Really HF? On a rainy day⁇
It took forever to deplane. Seriously, it was 23 minutes after arrival that we began deplaning. For an A320neo, are you serious?
I did manage to spot this Ethiopian Airlines 777-200LR that was embarking over to Addis Ababa as ET531. Usually, that route is operated by a Dreamliner, but around once a month, it will be switched to a 77L.
If I can read the tail numbers correctly, this would be the same 77L I would fly on in less than a week...
Stepping into the terminal, it seemed that everyone and their grandmother was in the connecting lane. With 13 minutes until boarding began, would I make it? Or would I be stranded for the night in a country where I had no visa?
Find out after a quick commercial break 😂😉.
Final Thoughts
Air Cote d'Ivoire impressed me with their onboard product on the A320neo. The service was fine, nothing over the top, but nothing bad. The seat pitch was welcoming, and it is always nice to have a row to yourself. The food was okay for a flight of this length, but I was impressed that they offer free alcohol in economy. The best part of the flight had to be how the interior lights light up to reflect the airline's colors. This is an aspect I have not seen before on any aircraft. I cannot wait for HF to take delivery of a pair of A338s, as there is potential with this airline. If you can find a decent price, I would recommend HF.
However, it was an expensive ticket...
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