Turkish Airlines sets course for Angola
In the next few years, Turkey and Angola want to see their bilateral trade reach an annual volume of 500 million dollars, compared to the current 176 million. Both countries see their national airlines as effective levers for achieving this goal.
From 27 October, Turkish Airlines will open a direct route between Istanbul in Turkey and Luanda in Angola. The route will be operated without competition with A330-200 aircraft twice a week via Gabon.
The flight from Istanbul will leave on Wednesdays at 2.05am and arrive in Libreville at 7.45am before continuing to Luanda where the flight is scheduled to land at 10.55am. In the opposite direction, the return flight will leave Angola at 12.25pm and land in Istanbul on a direct route at 10.40pm. On Fridays, the outbound rotation will be direct, taking off at 9.25am and arriving at 3.50pm, while the return flight will leave the Angolan capital at 5.10pm and make a stopover in Libreville, leaving at 8.30pm to land at the hub the following day at 5.02am.
At Luanda International Airport, the Turkish flag bearer will be joined by other international carriers such as Emirates Airlines Air France, Brussels Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Lufthansa and Qatar Airways. From this hub, TAAG Angola Airlines also connects to Europe, but only to Lisbon in Portugal. Since July, the Angolan flag carrier has been linked to Turkish Airlines through a code-share agreement.
With this announced opening, Turkish Airlines is further expanding its presence in Africa. The Turkish flagship currently serves nearly forty destinations on the continent.
