By No trace of airline at Murtala Muhammed International Airport
By Timi Obafemi
Plans by TAAG Angolan Airlines, the national carrier of the Southern African nation to commence direct non-stop flights from Luanda-Lagos by next week may have met with some reversals.
When our correspondent called at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Wednesday, he could not find a ground office for the airline nor any indication that it had indeed formally applied for one.
Airport officials and staff of other African airline agencies operating within the precincts of the airport also said that they were not aware of any plans by the airline to set up shop in the country any time soon.
An additional destination search on the airlines website as this report was being rounded off confirmed that no destination slot had formally been allocated for the projected Luanda-Lagos route.
According to reports already in the public domain, the airline had planned to add a Luanda-Lagos service to its current haul of offerings with November 11, Angola’s 40th Independence anniversary being indicated as take-off date.
According to sources, a Boeing 737-700 aircraft will operate this route 3 times a week.
With one week to the estimated date for the first flight and no sign of any ground operations at the moment, meeting the schedule will be the 9th wonder in the world!
Relations between Nigeria and Angola have been generally good given Nigeria’s front-line role in the Portuguese-speaking nation’s Independence quest in the 1970s. Both countries are currently also Africa’s biggest crude oil producers.
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