Paris Air Show: TAAG Angola Airlines Boosts Fleet Expansion with Additional Airbus A220-300

PARIS – TAAG Angola Airlines has signed a long-term agreement with the lessor Aviation Capital Group (ACG) to acquire four Airbus A220-300 aircraft. These aircraft will be delivered starting from 2025, according to ACG’s order schedule.

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With this agreement, the Angolan state airline will increase its A220 fleet to a total of ten aircraft. These four aircraft are in addition to the agreement for six A220s from Air Lease Corporation, which will be delivered between 2023 and 2024. These Airbus models will replace their six Boeing 737-700 aircraft.

See Also:Interview with TAAG Angola’s CEO, Eduardo Fairen

Tom Baker, CEO and president of ACG, affirmed that the A220 will support TAAG’s mission of reopening markets, accessing new destinations, and increasing connectivity options with more frequencies.

«The addition of four new A220 aircraft under the agreement with ACG is a clear signal of our international credibility and a significant milestone in the renewal of TAAG’s fleet», said Eduardo Fairen, executive director of TAAG Angola Airlines.

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The state-owned company is focused on fleet renewal to improve the profitability of its destination network. By 2025, TAAG’s domestic and regional destination fleet will consist of six Dash 8 and ten A220-300.

TAAG Angola’s destination network

Its growing route network includes 13 domestic destinations, with the addition of Kuito (SVP) and Uige (UGO) starting from September. All of its destinations are currently operated with DHC 8-400 aircraft, except for Catumbela, Lubango, and Cabinda, which also operate Boeing 737.

Regionally, TAAG operates flights to Cape Town (CPT) and Johannesburg (JNB) in South Africa, Windhoek (WDH) in Namibia, Pointe Noire (PNR) in the Congo, Kinshasa (FIH) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Maputo (MPM) in Mozambique, São Tomé (TMS) in São Tomé and Príncipe, and Lagos (LOS) in Nigeria. With the arrival of their first A220s, Accra (ACC) in Ghana will be added in September, followed by Durban (DUR) in South Africa in October.

For its long-h

aul routes, TAAG currently operates five Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to Lisbon (LIS), Portugal; Madrid (MAD), Spain; Havana (HAV), Cuba; and São Paulo/Guarulhos (GRU), Brazil. Temporarily, Porto (OPO) will be added between December and January.

Madrid was the latest long-haul destination to be added, and TAAG Angola Airlines resumes flights to Cuba, increases frequencies to Brazil, Spain and 9 other destinations, allowing them to offer more European destinations on a single ticket.

Recently, the airline established a codeshare agreement with GOL Linhas Aereas to expand its network to other Brazilian and South American destinations. The good market response was reflected in an increase in sales on its Angola-Brazil route, which has enabled them to increase the frequency from 5 to 6 flights per week.

With the renewal of the fleet, the company aims to transform Luanda (LAD), Angola, into a significant hub for connections in Southern Africa.