Slok Air International is back in the skies after a three-month break from operations in The Gambia, from where it connects to other cities in the sub-region and beyond.

One of the airline’s flights, which was in the East African country of Ethiopia for a major maintenance or C-check, landed at the Yundum International Airport on Tuesday morning ready to start full fledged operations as never before, at the weekend.

According to Mr Michael Dara, Corporate Affairs manager of Slok, the airline’s three-month break from operations was merely to carry out some check-up and to fix up a technical itch on its aircraft, in the Ethiopian city of Addis Ababa.

"We are actually not having problem with the government or anybody; it was just a mere technical problem, and now the technical problem has been resolved," Mr Dara said at the airport, to journalists who witnessed the arrival of the flight from Ethiopia.

"With our comeback we promise the people of The Gambia a better and improved service," Slok’s head of flight operations Captain Victor Lemba said, adding that the services of the airline this time around would be "unprecedented" in the airline industry in The Gambia.

"Our pilots, during the time that we were on the ground, have not only been improving their skills, but they have also been in prayer to our Lord to give us the necessary endurance to carry forward," said Captain Lemba, who also appealed to the people of The Gambia to continue their support of the airline, as it has come back to render more services of improved quality to the public and all its customers in the sub-region and beyond..

"We are mandated that at every specified time aeroplanes must go through a routine check, and that is what we have done so far," said Slok’s head of maintenance, Engineer I.N.F. Akinjayeju. He also apologized to their "esteemed customers" for the airline’s short break from operations in the last three months.

"We are here again to give you improved services, to give you safe flight, to give you safe transportation from destination A to B," he said, adding that the public can always rely on Slok for "standard and ever-increasing quality services".

In his remarks at the press briefing, the Acting Director of Flight Safety Standards of the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Kebba Lamin Jammeh, said the absence of Slok from the skies was a challenging moment not only for Slok officials and staff but also for officials of the GCAA. Nevertheless, he further noted, flight safety is a paramount concern for the GCAA and all the people of The Gambia.

"Safety is a collective responsibility, and that being the case all stakeholders have to come on board and ensure that safety is maintained at all times at high level," he said, adding that they at the GCAA and the members of Slok are partners in the airline industry.

"We may be highlighting few things here and there, but the desired goal is to make sure things are done properly and everybody has got the confidence that they are flying in a safe machine and is being operated by qualified and efficient personnel," Mr Jammeh further said, adding:

"This airline is a Gambian airline, so let’s see ourselves as Gambians. As long as the airline carries a Gambian air operator’s certificate and the aircraft is registered in The Gambia, it is The Gambia that has the jurisdiction over the affairs of this airline. And I implore everybody to support this airline as a national air operator and also contribute in one way or the other towards the success of this airline."

According to officials of Slok, the airline will maintain its usual flight routes to both Anglophone and Francophone countries in the sub-region and beyond. They revealed that the first flight will take off from The Gambia on Friday 8 February this year to go via its route of the English-speaking countries in the sub-region. They also said the ticket cost for all their destinations "remain the same".

The occasion moderated by Slok’s Marketing Manager Paul Mendy, was attended by a good number of Slok’s senior officials.