Cheap flights from London to Dakar

February is the cheapest month on this route, and the weeks either side of it usually sit close behind. Fares climb through the school holidays, when families in both countries travel, and again around the winter break in the United Kingdom. Midweek departures tend to cost less than Friday and Sunday flights, and a longer connection is often the trade-off for a lower fare. If you are tied to a holiday date, book a few months ahead. If your dates are loose, let the price calendar pick the week for you.

Nobody flies this route non-stop, so every option is a connection. Vueling, Wizz Air Malta, Wizz Air UK, Easyjet, Aer Lingus and Portug are the low-cost names in the mix, and each routes you through its own base. British Airways, Iberia, TAP Portugal and Turkish Airlines are the full-service choices, where a checked bag and a meal normally come with the fare. On the low-cost tickets you add a bag at booking, so compare the total rather than the headline figure. Aer Lingus sits between the two camps: one fare, but extras cost more.

Dakar has two airports and your ticket will name only one of them. Leopold Sedar Senghor and Blaise Diagne International are not in the same place, and the run into the centre is different from each, so check your arrival airport before you arrange a transfer. Taxis wait outside both terminals; agree the fare before you get in, or use a ride-hailing app if you have data when you land. Allow time on the way back too, because traffic in Dakar can turn a short drive into a long one.

Currency

XOF (F)

Power sockets

Type C, E, G, K · 230 V

Language

Badyara, Balanta, Wolof, French

Emergency number

17, 18

Driving side

right

Calling code

+221

Internet domain

.sn

Population of Dakar

1.4 M (2021)

Time zone

UTC+00 (Africa/Dakar)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check which London airport you leave from, since Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City are not interchangeable.
• Confirm whether the fare includes a checked bag, because the low-cost tickets on this route sell it separately.
• If your trip is booked as two separate tickets, leave a long gap between flights, as a missed connection is yours to fix.
• Check the entry rules for Senegal and the passport validity they ask for before you pay.
• Look at the price calendar before you fix dates, since February is the cheapest month and the weeks around it often follow.
• Decide which Dakar airport you want to land at, because the transfer into town differs.