Angolan President João Lourenço wants his country’s national carrier to expand its long-haul routes, reports Lusa. The president made his comments at the swearing-in of Rui Carreira, the new secretary of state for the civil aviation, maritime and ports in Angola. Carreira served as a fighter pilot in the Air Force and has held several positions in TAAG, the most recent being a non-executive member of the board.
TAAG currently serves several destinations within Angola, as well as seven other African countries. Routes outside Africa are more limited, with only four European countries (Portugal, Germany, Belgium and Spain), two countries in the Americas (Brazil and Cuba) and none in Asia.
[See more: TAAG Angola Airlines will fly Dreamliners from next year]
The airline is looking to restart flights to China, dropped during the lockdown, but Lourenço advocated for adding more routes to Asia, as well as to Europe, Africa and the Americas.
“We cannot be content”, he said, to simply maintain the status quo. “We must have the ambition to open more routes”.
With the recently announced addition of four Boeing 787 Dreamliners to the TAAG fleet, such ambitions are well within reach. Dreamliners use 20 percent less fuel than other comparably sized aeroplanes, making even far-flung destinations like Los Angeles – over 14,000 km from Luanda – feasible.
