DISCLAIMER: tickets for these flight were offered to Aviacionline by TAAG. However, our editorial independence is a non-negotiable value and all views expressed here are mine and mine alone, regardless of who paid for the ticket.

Growing up as a planespotter in Brazil, once I got old enough that I started going to Guarulhos to take some photos, there was one plane that always catched my attention: TAAG’s Triple Seven.

I mean, seeing all the traffic to Europe and North America was cool (especially because I didn’t see it very often in Porto Alegre), but TAAG was my favorite. It was nice to imagine what justified that flight, often daily, between two ex-colonies of Portugal who remained close economic partners.

The flights would often be full, taking both Angolan visitors to Brazil (many bringing huge amounts of luggage back home) and workers to the infrastructure investments Brazilian companies made in Angola over the course of this century. And, from an AvGeek perspective, TAAG’s livery was always an eye-catcher.

Anyway: when the opportunity knocked to get onboard their first flight from Madrid to Luanda, that was difficult to pass.

TAAG is now operating three weekly frequencies between the two cities, operated by their flagship aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER.

After the event celebrating the new in a Hotel in downtown Madrid, a bus took us to Barajas Airport.

The terminal was empty, since it was quite late. From Barajas, TAAG operates from the always beautiful Terminal 4, and since the flight is extra-Schengen, the gate was on terminal 4S.

The flight was empty and we arrived in the last minutes before check-in closed, so in no time I had my boarding pass in hands.

Our flight was one of the last leaving T4S that night, so most stores were already closed and the terminal was almost a ghost town.

The gate was decorated with balloons for the first flight. We were among the last passengers to board the aircraft.

DT681 MAD-LAD

Our aircraft for this flight would be the last Triple Seven delivered to TAAG so far. Registered D2-TEK and named “Morro do Moco” after Angola’s highest mountain, it was delivered brand new to TAAG on September 2016, according to Planespotters.net.

Inside, a good first impression; while TAAG went for a very dense configuration nonetheless (a 2-3-2 in Business class), the cabin looked good and well maintained.

The last row of each cabin shows some pretty landscapes of Angola, a great idea I wish more flag carriers did.

TAAG’s long-haul fleet is very business focused though, because half the space of the cabin is either First or Business class, using up more space for premium seats than, say, Qatar Airways does.

Overall, their configuration is 8 seats in First Class, 56 in Business and 228 in Economy, according to Planespotters.net.

The seats, despite not offering aisle access, looked quite sharp.

I was first sitting in the back of the cabin, but just before take-off moved to the first row, in hopes (that ultimately didn’t materialise) to get a window seat.

Welcome drinks were offered, options being champagne and orange juice.

At 00h43, almost 50 minutes late, pushback was started. The safety instructions video was quite outdated, but most importantly understandable (something we’ve been taking for granted these days).

A relatively short taxi followed suit and at 00h59 we took-off from Barajas. The aircraft was hardly full, so the Triple Seven climbed with ease.

Some minutes after take-off, onboard service was started. The tray tables were opened from the central console between the two seats, and hot towels were handed to each passenger.

I was among the first to be served, and there was no menu, so the flight attendant gave us a choice between shrimps and ribs. I took the ribs.

They tasted delicious and the portion was generous too.

For dessert, this fine little chocolate cake. Through the service the cutlery and plattery was of good quality, and I felt very well treated by the flight attendants, who looked professional and interested in what they were doing throughout.

The most negative point of the experience, I would say, is the entertainment system, which stayed like this throughout the flight. My remote control didn’t work and, since I needed to sleep (the flight is less than seven hours long), I couldn’t bother to ask the FA to reset it. Eventually after the dinner service was finished, they passed turning the screens off.

Before going to bed, a visit to the lavatory which was clean, although it didn’t have much decorations/fine details as you would see in other 777s around the world.

The seat could go fully flat. Apart from that, its design is in line with other great Business class seats around the world.

The remote control, as I said before, didn’t work (so I couldn’t turn my reading light on, nor call the flight attendants if I needed). There was also this small stowable partition for further privacy.

The seat control was quite easy and intuitive to use.

The pillow was quite good too…

…and so was the blanket they gave. Remember this flight was just seven hours long, so you couldn’t expect any more than this.

And I slept through the entire flight, in fact. When I woke up, the view from the window was quite beautiful.

For breakfast, there was a single option — omelet with funghi, which was really good.

Shortly after the service was over, we started our descent into Luanda.

At 06h47, D2-TEK made a smooth landing in the airport’s single runway.

Deboarding proceeded respecting the classes; first things First, then us at Business, then Economy. I managed to snap a picture of First Class, which really looked great — must be a solid product to fly on.

16-year-old me would definitely be proud I flew TAAG! And look at this livery, a timeless classic. I enjoyed the experience, though I still had the return flight and some points were disappointing.

Since we stopped in a remote position, we were put in a bus.

The bus let us at this COVID-19 testing centre; Angola still has some very strict rules regarding the pandemic, requiring tests before departure and after arrival (luckily this last one is free of charge).

The process was quite messy but in about 20-30 minutes my test was negative and we were sent back to the terminal.

Then, the visa issuing lasted two or three hours and finally I was admitted into the country. Transit passengers don’t need a visa, but other passengers who were arriving in the country apparently also had to wait for hours.

I’m sure they could handle this more efficiently. The online process gives you a “pre-approval” which requires you to take your visa upon arrival in Luanda, and the website is quite slow.

DT680 LAD-MAD

After a couple of great days in Luanda, it was time to return home.

Luanda Airport has two separate terminals, the domestic and the international, both of which are disjoint (so if you are connecting from one into the other, you’re on your own).

Luanda has quite a supply of flights to Europe. TAAG flies nonstop to Lisbon and now Madrid, with Air France flying to Paris, Brussels Airlines to Brussels, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, TAP to Lisbon and Turkish to Istanbul.

The terminal in Luanda looked quite underwhelming and crowded, but TAAG says this should change with the new airport, Aeroporto Internacional Dr. António Agostinho Neto, which should be opened for business next year.

At least the safety screening was cleared really quickly, and in less than 10 minutes I entered TAAG’s lounge.

The lounge was spacious and the food offering was good. It was also good to drink a last can of Cuca beer before leaving.

The flights were called in an “analogic” way, an airport worker getting into the lounge and yelling “flight to São Paulo!”, “flight to Madrid!” and so on.

It appeared that both the flights to São Paulo and Madrid were boarding on the same gate.

…and in fact, they were.

The boarding experience was a mess, and I don’t know how there aren’t many passengers who get on the wrong flight. I showed my boarding pass to the gate agent, who saw I was going to Madrid, and directed me to another agent, who put me on the right bus.

They waited for the bus to get full and only then the bus left to the airplane. The bus behind ours was taking the passengers to São Paulo.

Apparently the bus stopped in the front door, to leave the Business class passengers (they didn’t open my door so I couldn’t step off the bus), then went to the back door to leave the Economy class passengers at the rear.

At least the view was great.

Again, D2-TEK would operate my flight.

The boarding process was quite stressful, but at least it was great for the views. It’s not everyday I board a Triple Seven by the stairs, but all in all I’d say, from a passenger perspective, that the new airport couldn’t come sooner.

This time, I was allocated a seat in the front row of TAAG’s 777-300ER Business Class. The fact it is set immediately after First Class and just before the second door means that row is a “private cabin”, and in terms of privacy it looked much better.

That night, only three passengers occupied the seven seats of this row (so I luckily didn’t have a seatmate), and the load didn’t look any better in Economy Class — First Class was empty.

Again this was how I found the screens.

This is the blanket we found in our seats — really Economy class stuff, so I didn’t get it, especially because just after the onboard service was finished, the FAs handed us the blanket/pillow set I’d been given in the Madrid-Luanda leg.

Again, champagne (which tasted good — it was the same from the first flight, Laurent-Perrier) and orange juice were offered as the welcome drinks.

2034 us

At 21h13 the Captain came to the announcement system to tell us there was some sort of issue with the baggage handling of the airport, which meant the bags were late into the aircraft. This meant the flight would again leave late, since the scheduled departure time was 21h00.

At 21h39 we were pushed back, with taxi starting at 21h44.

With no traffic ahead, our take-off was likely even easier than in the first flight.

Without anyone in First Class and being in the first row of Business, I was served quite fast; there were two options again, meat and shrimps.

The meat was really tasty and the portion size was adequate.

I then asked if they had any shrimp meals left, and they did bring it. It was even better than the other one.

All in all a great food experience with TAAG, although I can’t help but think they lack the soft product of other competitors in that I think they should offer a printed menu. I mean I don’t really mind having a written menu or not (as long as the food is good), but this is especially because most of TAAG’s peers in the Africa-Europe market do the same.

By the way, the crew were a highlight of both the flights. You could definitely see they meant well all the time, and were very respectful and helpful in all interactions we’ve had.

Just before going to sleep they asked if I wanted dessert, and I said yes. The plate was quickly brought, and I liked especially the chocolate cake.

After so much food I could definitely sleep for an entire night. The FAs then distributed the “actual” pillows and blankets.

Here I must add that I tried scrolling through TAAG’s entertainment system since in the first flight I couldn’t, but again my control wasn’t working.

I then called the FA but she said the system was not working at all.

In TAAG’s defense it counts that this flight was a red-eye (so 99% of the passengers just want to get some sleep), but still it looks like a waste of money to have these ultra-expensive entertainment equipments just not to use it.

Since I couldn’t try the entertainment system, I decided to sleep.

And I did sleep really well, for some four hours, waking up just before the breakfast service started. A lie-flat seat really does make a difference for getting the passenger refreshed after a day of travel.

Anyway: again the breakfast had a single option, but still it was very tasty and enjoyable.

It was soon after the service ended that we started descending into Madrid.

Landing was 21 minutes late, at 05h36. We stopped at a remote position, by this Avianca 787.

Deboarding started quickly, and there was also this LATAM Chile A321 returning from maintenance.

It was definitely a good experience with TAAG, albeit there are some points where they could improve.

By the way, D2-TEK has a small sticker, by the first door, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Angola’s first President, Agostinho Neto.

We were then taken by bus to the terminal, and since we arrived before the first wave of early morning arrivals, I managed to dodge huge lines in immigration.

Final remarks

While I was really looking forward for flying with TAAG, I was quite aprehensive that the experience wouldn’t have been as good as one would hope (especially because you consider that their most famous review on the internet, written by Ben Schlappig at One Mile at a Time, went the way it did.

But I was happy to see that my experience was much, much better than Ben’s. The crew was lovely, the food was really decent and I was lucky to have gotten TAAG’s newest cabin, which means a great level of comfort.

Does it mean it was perfect? By no means: the two main points where TAAG has to improve in are the entertainment system and especially the airport experience (but here I think we’ll have to wait until next year, when their government will open Luanda’s new airport).

But for now, from what I’ve seen, TAAG has a very decent base from where to work. Now that South African went bust and their network is very small, TAAG is the largest airline in Southern Africa. And as such, it sets the standard for long-haul flying from this region.

And as long as they solve these two main problems, I really think TAAG won’t leave much to be desired when you compare their product to most airlines’ in the world.