EasyJet's arrival reveals weaknesses in national aviation and unleashes delusional rhetoric
The arrival of EasyJet in the Cape Verdean market represents an important step in the archipelago's connectivity with Europe. With more competitive fares and a highly efficient operation, the British company has brought a breath of modernity to the sector, while at the same time highlighting the weaknesses of the national carrier. However, this progress was quickly absorbed by a political discourse that tries to turn a solid business movement into a platform of easy and, above all, unfeasible promises.
Since EasyJet announced flights to Cape Verde, some political players have suggested that Cabo Verde Airlines could follow the same model, becoming a kind of "national low cost". On the surface, the idea seems seductive: cheaper tickets, more connections, greater mobility for Cape Verdeans. But one look at the data and the proposal collapses. CVA simply doesn't have the structure for it.
This is not a matter of opinion, but of operational arithmetic. The national carrier operates with a drastically reduced fleet, historically limited to a single plane available for long periods, and even today dependent on just two aircraft. No airline in the world is able to operate in a low-cost mode with so little capacity, resources and equipment. The model requires volume, dozens of high rotation routes, standardized aircraft, robust teams, optimized maintenance and an operational scale that generates margins even with low fares, and unfortunately CVA is very far from this reality.
This is where the crux of the problem lies: turning a structural limit into a political slogan not only feeds unrealistic expectations, but instrumentalizes a technical, complex and highly capital-dependent sector for strictly electoral purposes. Promising that CVA can compete with giants like EasyJet by adopting low-cost operating models is not an exercise in realism, but rather a strategy to "deceive" the electorate.
Thus, the country is trapped in an illusory narrative, where desires, promises and poorly explained facts are shamelessly mixed together. Selling the illusion of a "low-cost CVA" may win votes, but it doesn't buy planes, it doesn't multiply routes, it doesn't correct the company's financial fragility and, above all, it doesn't face the essential truth: the low-cost model only works with scale, and scaling requires investment that the state doesn't have and which is unlikely to be taken on by a limited market exposed to strong international competition.
We therefore need to depoliticize this discussion. Cape Verdean aviation needs a serious strategy, based on technical and economic criteria, and not on promises shaped to suit election campaigns. The arrival of EasyJet should be celebrated as an advance in connectivity and tourism, not as fuel for electoral illusions.
In the end, the country can only gain from clarity, transparency and honesty towards its citizens. It loses, however, when issues with a high national impact are reduced to rhetorical maneuvers. Cape Verde doesn't need a "low-cost CVA invented in speeches", it needs realistic policies, competent management and a vision that puts the public interest above political expediency.
Aguinaldo Monteiro
Traffic and Ground Handling Technician
