TAAG Angola Airlines, the West African country’s national flag-carrier, announced on Tuesday that it is increasing the number of its flights between its home base and hub, Luanda, and Brazil’s main commercial centre, São Paulo, from the current five, to six, flights per week. This step follows the recent conclusion of a codeshare agreement between TAAG and the leading Brazilian airline, Gol, and as a response to market demand.

The new flight will be flown on Wednesdays, and tickets for the new service are already on sale. It will be operated by one of TAAG’s fleet of Boeing 777s, and the flights will be nocturnal.

“More than a point-to-point link, São Paulo and Luanda are positioned as connection hubs between Latin America, Africa and Europe, with growing transatlantic demand of [sic] passengers, from tourists, families, and the greater business segment, who use TAAG for transit,” highlighted the carrier. “TAAG Angola Airlines is committed to continually improving customer service, providing families and the corporate segment with greater connection availability covering destinations with high demand.”

Currently, on the Luanda-São Paulo route, the average load factor is 73%. The Angolan carrier described this figure as a “positive reference” in the context of civil aviation benchmarks.

TAAG was founded in 1938 and currently operates both domestically and internationally. Its domestic network links 14 destinations and its international network connects 12 destinations. Air cargo is also an important part of its business.

Its fleet is composed of Boeing 777-300ER and 777-200ER widebody airliners, Boeing 737-700 single-aisle airliners, and De Havilland Canada DHC-8-Q400 twin-turboprop regional airliners. Reportedly, there are five 777-300ERs, three 777-200ERs, seven 737-700s and six DHC-8-Q400s. The 737-700s are to be replaced this year with Airbus A220-300s, of which six have been ordered.