ANGOLA, CHINA TO LAUNCH FLIGHTS BETWEEN CAPITALS
The oil-rich African nation of Angola and China plan to start direct flights between their capitals next month, the state-run Jornal de Angola reported today.
Under the deal signed yesterday in Beijing, Angola's state-run TAAG airline and Chinese carriers will begin flying from Luanda to Beijing and the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the paper said.
"Initially TAAG chose to fly to two cities, Beijing and Guangzhou," the airline's vice commercial director Jacinto Junior said in the paper.
He added the airline was waiting for Chinese authorities to allocate timetables and airspace for the flights.
"The profitability of the route is proven, given the number of Chinese companies operating in Angola under the national reconstruction programme," he said.
State-run radio RNA reported earlier this week that China's Hainan Airlines and Oriental Sky Aviation were set to win contracts to fly into Luanda.
Angola's airlines were banned last year from flying to the European Union over safety concerns.
Chinese interest in Angola has peaked in recent years, partly because of the nation's oil reserves, but also because Chinese companies have won contracts to rebuild the nation after a devastating civil war that ended six years ago.
