TAAG Angola Airlines will resume flights to Havana and increase frequencies to seven domestic and three international destinations, including São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU), Brazil, in the coming months.
The Angolan state-owned airline is progressively recovering its frequencies and the destinations it operated in pre-Pandemia, as demand for travel begins to increase. The aircraft assigned to each destination meet the usual volume of passengers and cargo.
It should be noted that the company has a fleet of:
- Five Boeing 737-700, one in storage, with capacity for 120 passengers, used on medium-range regional routes and Cabinda (CAB) in Angola.
- Three Boeing 777-200ER; all in maintenance.
- Five Boeing 777-300ER, one in storage, with capacity for 293 passengers, used exclusively for its flights to Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Johannesburg (JNB).
- Six De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s, seating 74 passengers, used on short regional routes and all domestic destinations.
- An order for six Airbus A220-300, which would replace the Boeing 737-700.
- An order for two Boeing 777-300 pre-fighter freighter aircraft.
See also: Analysis: What’s in store for TAAG with its new fleet?
Return to Cuba and increase to Brazil
As of November 8, the company will once again connect Luanda (LAD) with Havana (HAV), Cuba, which it flew on an interrupted schedule from 1984 until 2020, since when it has operated only a few humanitarian and cargo charter flights.
According to the company, the link has a flow of passengers from the business segment (Cuban doctors and professors) and travel related to tourism, education and health in the opposite direction.
The company will have a fortnightly frequency in November and February/March, and weekly flights in December and January. All operations will be with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with capacity for 293 passengers.
Between November and March, there will be 13 flights in each direction, offering a total of 7,618 seats.
Departures from Luanda:
- November: November 8 and 22.
- December: December 6, 13, 20 and 27.
- January: January 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31, 2023.
- February: February 14 and 28, 2023.
Departures from Havana:
- November: November 10 and 24.
- December: December 8, 15, 22 and 29.
- January: January 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2023.
- February: February 2 and 16, 2023.
- March: March 2, 2023.
In addition, operations to São Paulo/Guarulhos will increase from three to four weekly flights as of November 5. During the first half of 2022 (January-June), the company moved 94,676 passengers between the two destinations, according to ANAC Brazil.
Increase to Mozambique and Namibia
Starting October 2, both capitals will add an additional frequency:
- Maputo (MPM), Mozambique; increase from 3 to 4 flights per week, operating on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on Boeing 737-700 aircraft.
- Windhoek (WDH), Namibia; increase from 4 to 5 flights per week, operating on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays on Dash 8-400 aircraft.
Increase to Madrid, Spain
After announcing an increase in frequencies to 10 domestic and international destinations, TAAG Angola Airlines also announced that it will add an additional flight to Madrid, a route that was recently inaugurated on June 27, increasing from two to three weekly services as of November 1.
See also: TAAG Angola Airlines resumes flights to Cuba, increases frequencies to Brazil and 9 other destinations
According to information obtained from Aena, in the first month of operation TAAG mobilized 3,430 passengers between Luanda and Madrid on flights operated with Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
Now, the company has confirmed that from November operations will be carried out with Airbus A330-200 aircraft with 298 Hi Fly seats, under a wet-lease agreement.
It will maintain frequencies to other international destinations:
- Lisbon (LIS), Portugal, twelve flights per week.
- Johannesburg (JNB), South Africa, one flight daily.
- Cape Town (CPT), South Africa, four flights a week.
- Lagos (LOS), Nigeria, two flights weekly.
- Kinshasa (FIH), Democratic Republic of Congo, two flights weekly.
- São Tome (TMS9, Sao Tome and Principe, one flight per week.
Domestic destinations
TAAG has just added 11 new flights that will reinforce existing connections in 6 provinces from the north to the south of the country. According to the company, the domestic segment reflecting greater mobility and interest of private and corporate passengers to travel
within Angola.
This strong focus on domestic connections will provide passengers with more options, allowing travelers to stay longer in those provinces with a positive impact on the local economy, specifically in terms of tourism, services or commercial prospecting.
A special reference to the Luanda – Cabinda (CAB) route, one of the domestic destinations with the highest demand, where approximately 90% of the flights will be operated on Boeing 737-700 aircraft. This means that 23 of the 26 weekly flights to Cabinda are operated with B737s.
The remaining domestic operations are carried out on Dash 8-400s, with the following frequency increases:
Luanda – Catumbela (CBT), increases from 4 to 7 flights per week, prepandemia operated with 9 flights per week.
Luanda – Lubango (SDD), increases from 4 to 6 flights per week, prepandemia operated 8 flights per week.
Luanda – Dundo (DUE), increases from 4 to 5 flights per week, surpassing the pre-Pandemia levels, which had 3 flights per week.
Luanda – Luena (LUO), increases from 4 to 5 flights per week, surpassing the pre-pandemic levels of 3 flights per week.
Luanda – Ondjiva (Cunene), increases from 2 to 4 flights per week, surpassing the pre-pandemic levels of 3 flights per week.
Luanda – Huambo (NOV), increases from 2 to 4 flights per week, pre-Pandemia operated 6 flights per week.
The company will maintain the frequencies to Namibe (MSZ), Saurimo (VHC), Uige (UGO), Menongue (SPP) and Kuito (SVP); with 4 flights per week for the first two and from 2 to 1 flight per week for the last destinations.
