TAAG Angola Airlines (DT, Luanda 4 De Fevereiro) will refocus its growth plans on Europe as part of an upcoming partnership agreement with Emirates (EK, Dubai International). According to Lusophone newswire, Macauhub, the agreement will see Luanda's future Angola International Airport become a new Central African hub feeding both passenger and cargo traffic into Dubai International.
The China International Fund along with Brazil's Oderbrecht are in the process of constructing the new airport some 40 km southeast of Luanda's city centre. With a capacity for 13million passengers per annum, the airport is set to become one of the largest in Africa.
In terms of its operations, among the changes involved are the reduction of TAAG's existing flights to São Paulo Guarulhos and Rio de Janeiro International in Brazil as well as Beijing Capital services which will then become the domain of Emirates. TAAG will instead focus on expanding its European network to include Rome Fiumicino, Amsterdam Schiphol, London Heathrow, Paris CDG, Brussels National and Frankfurt International. The two airlines are also expected to code-share on routes starting or ending in Luanda 4 De Fevereiro.
To compliment the move, the Angolan authorities expect the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to completely remove Angola, and therefore TAAG, from its Banned Operators List thereby allowing freer access to the European market.
