CAPE VERDE AIRLINES WILL HAVE BOEING 737-8 MAX

Cabo Verde Airlines, the flag carrier owned by the Cape Verdean State, announced today that it will have a second aircraft in its fleet, a Boeing 737-8 MAX, allowing customers to choose its official name.

“Cabo Verde Airlines wants, once again, to give voice to its customers, and for that reason we are launching a public voting campaign to choose the name of our newest Boeing 737-8 MAX”, announced the company.

Among the names “suggested” by employees, Cabo Verde Airlines – trade name of Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde (TACV) – refers that “three stood out” and are, as of today, and for a week, in public voting through of the company's social networks: “Cidade Velha”, a place classified as a World Heritage Site, “Morabeza”, in an allusion to the Cape Verdean welcome, and “Esperança”.

The company does not provide information about the expected arrival of the new plane or about its origin.

TACV resumed operations, after the suspension of all activities in March 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic, initially with flights only between Praia and Lisbon, since the end of December 2021. With only one aircraft, flights were extended in 2022 from the islands of São Vicente and Sal to the Portuguese capital.

The Cape Verdean Minister of Transport and Tourism said in November that, since the resumption, the airline TACV, renationalized in 2021, has already transported – until then – 28,000 passengers and that negotiations were under way to rent a second aircraft to connect to Boston .

He added that TACV was negotiating with leasing companies in the sector to supply a second aircraft, to add to the Boeing 737-700 leased since March 2022 by the Cape Verdean flag company to the Angolan counterpart TAAG and which ensures connections from Cape Verde to Portugal.

This second aircraft, he clarified, will make it possible to resume connections with Boston, in the United States of America, where the largest Cape Verdean community in the diaspora resides, but also with Brazil and France.

TACV was sold (51%) to Icelandic investors and renationalized in July 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic, having only resumed flights in December 2021.

In March 2019, the State of Cape Verde sold 51% of TACV for 1.3 million euros to Lofleidir Cabo Verde, a company 70% owned by Loftleidir Icelandic EHF (Icelandair group, which took 36% of Cabo Verde Airlines – commercial name of the company) and 30% by Icelandic entrepreneurs with experience in the aviation sector (who took over the remaining 15% of the privatized 51% share).

The Cape Verdean state will annually inject 1 billion escudos into TACV, to guarantee the stability and recovery of the airline, before reprivatizing it in 2024, minister Carlos Santos announced in September.

Following the company's stoppage during the pandemic, the State took over a 51% stake in TACV on July 6, 2021, alleging several breaches in management, and immediately dissolved the governing bodies, currently holding 90% of the share capital.