"Taking into account the period in which we are, a period of low season, we consider that it is a reasonable number of passengers transported in these 11 weeks, since the beginning of operations", said Sara Pires, chairman of the board of directors of TACV.
TACV resumed operations, after being renationalised, at the end of last December, after 21 months without activity due to international restrictions imposed with the covid-19 pandemic, initially with a flight between Praia and Lisbon.
Subsequently, the company extended these weekly routes to the Portuguese capital also from the islands of São Vicente and then Sal, and plans to resume flights to Boston (United States of America) in "mid-July".
On Monday, as part of the State visit to Cape Verde by the President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, the administrations of the two state airlines TACV and TAAG signed an agreement for the supply, under a 'leasing' regime, of a first Boeing 737-700 from the Angolan carrier to the Cape Verdean company, which arrived at Praia international airport on the same day.
"In terms of our recovery and stabilization plan, we expect to be operating with three devices by the end of 2023, so we are open to any cooperation that TAAG may be interested in. Until 2023 there are three devices, but the market will dictate the exact number of planes that TACV will need", added Sara Pires.
"In an initial moment it was this aircraft. We need more aircraft, therefore, we will start a negotiation process for the arrival of new devices", she said.
According to information from TAAG, the Angolan company operates several Boeing 737s with a capacity for 120 passengers, essentially on domestic routes, which it is replacing with six Dash 8-400 turboprops.
Since the resumption of flights in December, TACV has operated a Boeing 757 on a 'leasing' basis, which, according to the Cape Verdean Government, has "performance problems", taking into account the 188 seats for an average occupancy of flights. of the company that is around 100 passengers.
"It will be returned. The contract ends on March 30, in its normal course it will return to its base", said the administrator.
Starting next week, Sara Pires admits that the aircraft provided by TAAG can already be used in connections to Portugal: "There are still certain procedures that have to be fulfilled. I believe that next week we will be able to start the operation with the airplane".
TACV was privatized in 2019, with the sale of 51 percent of the share capital to Icelandic investors, and renationalized in July 2021 by decision of the Government, following the covid-19 pandemic.
On Monday, during the State visit to Cape Verde, the President of Angola defended, in Praia, the creation of a 'joint-venture' between the airlines flying the flag of Angola and Cape Verde to take advantage of the capabilities of each country.
"We thought to go further, to form a 'joint-venture' between TAAG and TACV to, with TAAG aircraft, and based on the city of Praia or the city of Sal - this detail passed me by, which is important is that the base will be Cape Verde -, from here, we will operate to several capitals in the West African region, known as ECOWAS, and also continue not only to Europe, but also to the United States of America", stated João Lourenço.
Sara Pires foresees "a great cooperation" between the two companies, but for the moment she does not advance the way to effect this partnership: "The challenge that has been thrown at us is something that has not yet been discussed, we have to see how it can be materialized".
"The President of the Republic of Angola was very incisive in the next steps that the two companies should take. We are open to these possibilities and we will be working so that, in the very near future, new partnership relations between the two companies can take place" , concluded the administrator of TACV.
