"We have no plans to hold (...) Lisbon/Luanda to repatriate our national citizens who are in Lisbon", said the commercial director of the company Carlos Von Hafe, when questioned by Lusa.
The head of the airline, who was speaking at a press conference announcing the arrival of the first Dash8-400 model aircraft in the country, scheduled for Monday, said that the airline is already planning to resume flights when it reopens its airspace.
Carlos Von Hafe assured that "in due course" TAAG will communicate how many frequencies it will operate for the already existing routes and "eventually we will have the case of suspension of some routes".
"Very soon we will have our say on this question of frequencies", he replied to Lusa.
For TAAG's commercial director, the entry into service of the fleet of the six Dash8-400 aircraft will be reflected in a reduction in fuel consumption, maintenance costs, ground operating costs and so on.
The new aircraft, acquired from the Canadian aircraft manufacturer De Havilland Aircraft, should 'make the company sustainable', he said.
Asked by Lusa about the perspective of the viability of the company that is technically bankrupt, Von Hafe, failed to address these issues and spoke only about "operational and financial efficiency".
"These new aircraft will lead to a number of operational cost reductions, such as reduced fuel consumption, when compared to the Boeing 737 for our domestic destination," he justified.
The fuel consumption "represents for the company and for the whole operation, not only for TAAG but for other companies as well, about 25 per cent of the overall operating costs of the company", he indicated, adding that the allocation of these aircraft will have an impact on cost reduction.
"We can naturally make some gains here," he concluded.
