Air carriers TAP and TAAG are planning four humanitarian flights to link Angola, which remains closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Portugal by July 2.
According to information available on the website of the Consulate of Portugal in Luanda, a TAP flight is due to be operated on June 26 at 22:45, and the information should be confirmed with the Portuguese airline.
Another TAP flight is scheduled on July 1, at 11:00, and the Consulate will send all information on reservations and possible ticket changes to TAP.
The consulate clarifies that “no repatriation/evacuation operation of citizens residing in Angola is in progress”, and that return flights to Portugal are the responsibility of the airlines and advises those interested to contact travel agencies and airlines.
Angolan TAAG will also operate Luanda-Lisbon (one-way) connections on Tuesdays and Thursdays, on June 30 and July 2, according to information provided by travel agencies that are marketing the flights.
Angola closed all its borders on March 20 but has authorized some humanitarian flights for the return of Angolan citizens who are abroad or departure of foreigners who wish to return to their countries of origin.
A joint executive decree published on 12 June mentions 30th of this month as the date for resumption of international travel to and from Luanda, but subject to confirmation by health authorities.
However, a new decree published today sets a new health cordon in Luanda until July 10, due to the “worrying situation” of the pandemic, which seems to leave more distant the possibility of resuming commercial flights on the scheduled date.
Questioned by Lusa, a TAP source says the Portuguese carrier is prepared to operate commercial flights “as soon as it has [the Angolan authorities’] authorisation to do so.
The resumption of operations was announced for 15 June, but the extension of the restrictive measures frustrated the expectations of TAP, which has carried out special flights once a week on average, taking cargo from Lisbon to Luanda, and returning from the Angolan capital with passengers when permitted.
If the air border reopened on the scheduled date and international travel resumed as of June 30, TAP expected two flights a week from July to four from August, “subject to demand and restrictions imposed on air transport” by states, the same source indicated.
As for TAAG, “it is only focused for the time being on humanitarian flights,” a source from the Angolan airline told Lusa, underscoring that “there are other factors to consider” such as the evolution of Covid-19.
Angola announced on Thursday the highest number of cases in a single day (15), since the outbreak of the pandemic, surpassing the barrier of 200 infections.
