Dubai’s Emirates to resume daily Luanda service

Dubai airline Emirate’s has announced plans to reintroduce two weekly flights to the Angolan capital Luanda.

Emirates reduced its service on the route in July 2017 and terminated a 10-year management concession deal with TAAG Angola Airlines due to issues repatriating funds.

Read: Dubai’s Emirates terminates 10-year deal with TAAG Angola Airlines, cuts flights

The additions from July 1 will return the route to a daily service for the winter schedule and will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER with eight first class, 42 business class and 310 economy class seats, as well as 23 tonnes of cargo capacity.

“As a country rich in resources, Angola has a lot to offer global trade and we have recognised a need to enhance our capacity to enable greater connectivity between our network and Luanda,” said Emirates vice president of commercial operations for Africa Orhan Abbas.

The return to a full service comes after Emirates ended a September 2014 deal with Angola’s state-owned flag carrier that saw it appoint four senior managers.

The TAAG Angola Airlines agreement included the formulation and implementation of a business plan, the providing of management support and the devising of fleet and route network strategies, according to the original announcement.

In a July 2017 statement, Emirates said it had decided to terminate the deal due to “protracted difficulties” in repatriating sales proceeds from tickets in Angola.

Like other African countries, Angola suffered from a shortage of foreign currency following the decline in oil prices.

However, with Brent crude having climbed roughly 57 per cent over the last year to $76, the country is now in a stronger financial position.

EK793 will leave Dubai at 9:55am and arrive in Luanda at 2:40pm. Return flight EK794 will leave Luanda at 6:15pm and arrive in Dubai at 5:00am the next day.

The daily EK793/794 service in winter will then change to leaving Dubai at 10:10am and arriving in Luanda at 3:10pm with roughly the same return schedule as before.