The flight will be handled by the airline TAAG - Linhas Aéreas de Angola, according to the Angolan embassy in Beijing. There is still no certain date for the inauguration of the flight.
Quoted by the Hunan press, the Commerce Department of the Chinese province of Hunan, of which Changsha is the capital, reported that the flight was approved by the Chinese State Council in 2020, but that due to the covid-19 pandemic the opening has been delayed for this year.
The inauguration of the air link is of particular importance at a time when several commercial flights between China and Africa were suspended, hindering the flow of Chinese living in the African continent.
It is estimated that about one million Chinese live in Africa. Changsha plays an important role in relations between China and Africa.
In addition to the passenger flight to Luanda, the city will inaugurate an air cargo connection to Nigeria. The capital of Hunan already has a passenger flight to Nairobi.
In 2019, Changsha hosted the first China / Africa Economic and Trade Exhibition.
Jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the government of Hunan Province, the exhibition was launched within the framework of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC), with the aim of establishing a "new mechanism" for trade and economic cooperation between China and the United States. African countries.
About 30 percent of African government officials visiting China include Changsha in the travel program, according to data from the Chinese government.
In early April, a delegation of diplomats from Portuguese-speaking African countries visited the city, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
Diplomats visited Chinese companies operating in Africa and agricultural research centers.
In 2009, the Asian country became Africa's largest trading partner. According to Chinese statistics, in 2018, China-Africa trade totaled $ 208 billion, a year-on-year growth of 2.2 percent.
Angola is one of the biggest oil suppliers to China.
