1. History
    Restructuring and Privatisation 

2. Destinations
    Codeshare agreements 

3. Current fleet

4. Incidents and accidents

5. References

6. External links

Cabo Verde Airlines, previously branded TACV Cabo Verde Airlines, is a scheduled, passenger and cargo airline based in Praia, Cape Verde.^[1] It is the national flag carrier of Cape Verde, operating flights to Europe, North America and South America. Its main base is Amílcar Cabral International Airport with a smaller one at Praia International Airport. Cabo Verde Airlines is also a ground handling company serving all airports in Cape Verde.

History

Cabo Verde Airlines was established in 1958. In July 1975, following the independence of Cape Verde, the airline was designated as the national carrier and became a public (state-owned) company in 1983. It employs 788 staff. The Cape Verdean government is currently preparing the airline for privatization. The TACV logo included a blue wing with seven lines that represented the number of domestic inter-island flights offered by the airline. Until 1984, it served with 8 of the 9 inhabited islands, no flight ever connected with Brava then.

European flights began in 1985, with Lisbon as the first European destination. Also that year, the airline began services to Boston, Massachusetts, USA using a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 provided by LAM Mozambique Airlines. All of its international flights were at Sal until 2004. In 1996 Cabo Verde Airlines received its first Boeing 757-200, brand new, direct from the Boeing factory, in Seattle, considered as “the pride and joy of Cape Verde Airlines", baptized with the name B.Leza. With B.Leza (registration D4-CBG), Cabo Verde Airlines began flying to Europe with its own aircraft and crew.

Until 1998, it was the country's only airline until Cabo Verde Express started airline operations.

Poor safety standards at some of the country's airports, namely Esperadinha Airport and Agostinho Neto Airport, led to the cancellation of every flight to the islands. Brava's airport closed in 2003 while Santo Antão's closed in 2007.

In 2004, another Boeing 757-200 named Emigranti (registration D4-CBP) joined the Cabo Verde Airlines fleet. For several years, the Boeing 757 pair operated all of Cabo Verde Airlines' international routes before one being replaced by two smaller leased Boeing 737-800 which however meanwhile have been phased out again.^[2]

In 2009, it was announced Cabo Verde Airlines’ international flights would be operated from Cesária Évora Airport in São Vicente.

In June 2015, the airline opened two new air routes to Recife and Providence, Rhode Island, the latter replaced Boston's Logan International Airport, also its flight with Bissau resumed and served as a biweekly flights via Dakar, operated by the ATR 72 aircraft.

Restructuring and Privatisation

The restructuring and privatisation of Cabo Verde Airlines meant that the airline would discontinue all inter-island operations. The main focus will be Cape Verde's strategic position as hub for mid Atlantic operations. Binter CV took over all inter-island operations, and established a partnership covering Cabo Verde Airlines' international services, allowing the airline to offer connections to domestic destinations and seek to strengthen inter-island connections in the future, with the aim to provide regular services to all airports in Cape Verde.

In August 2017, the Cape Verdean government signed an agreement with Loftleidir Icelandic, part of the Icelandair Group, which turned the administration of Cabo Verde Airlines to the Icelandic group. The new administration discontinued the hub at Praia International Airport focusing all of the airline's operations at Amílcar Cabral International Airport and from there serve as a connecting hub between the Americas, Europe and Africa.^[3][4]

On November 5, 2017, Icelandair transferred the first Boeing 757-200 to the airline which will be used to reinforce existing routes, such as daily flights to Lisbon and flights to Fortaleza and Recife.

In May 2018, the airline announced it would re brand as Cabo Verde Airlines in order to strengthen the connection of the national air carrier with its country, as part of its restructuring. The carrier's new aircraft will feature the new branding once they are delivered in the coming months. Cabo Verde Airlines plans to increase the country's connectivity with the world, with a new route to Salvador de Bahia with connections to Milan, Paris and Lisbon, and a new route to Rome, Italy. The carrier also aims to strengthen routes to Recife and Fortaleza. The management agreement with the Icelandic company Loftleidir Icelandic ends in August 2018. Loftleidir is wet leasing two B757-200s to the airline, and may provide additional aircraft to Cabo Verde Airlines under dry lease contracts in the future. Additionally, an agreement between TAAG and Cabo Verde Airlines will result in flights between the countries resuming in 2018, along with details of their yet-to-be determined strategic commercial partnership.^[5]

On the first day of March, 2019, Loftleidir (an Icelandic airline) paid 1,3 million Euros (or 51% of shares) for the heavily indebted Cabo Verde airlines, which resulted in it becoming the majority owner of Cabo Verde airlines. Soon after, the new owner (Loftleidir) nominated a new CEO for the Cabo Verde airlines.^[6]

Destinations

As of May 2018, Cabo Verde Airlines serves 8 international destinations in Europe, North America and South America.^[7]

Codeshare agreements

As of May 2017, Cabo Verde Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• Cabo Verde Express
• Icelandair
• TAP Air Portugal

Current fleet

As of August 2018, the Cabo Verde Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:^[8]

Incidents and accidents

• On 28 September 1998, a TACV de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (registered D4-CAX) carrying Carlos Veiga, then Prime Minister of Cape Verde, 18 other passengers and three crew members capt/instructor Socorro, first officer Elianne and third cockpit crew, crash-landed at Francisco Mendes Airport (serving Praia at that time) during a landing attempt in stormy weather, in which one bodyguard of the minister was killed. Four other people were injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Upon approach following the flight from Preguiça Airport, the aircraft had been hit by a gust of wind in an instant when the pilots intended to execute a left turn, and forced down.^[9]
• On 7 August 1999 at 12:02 local time, the domestic TACV Flight 5002 from São Pedro Airport to Agostinho Neto Airport crashed into a mountain on Santo Antão island at an altitude of 1370 metres, killing the 16 passengers and 2 crew members on board. The domestic flight had been carried out using a Dornier Do 228 (registered D4-CBC) on this day. Due to bad weather conditions with rain and fog, the pilot was prevented from landing at the destination airport (which was only VFR-certified), so he had decided to return to São Pedro. The aircrash marked the worst aviation accident in the history of both Cape Verde and TACV.^[10]
• On 7 October 2005, the right main landing gear of TACV ATR 42 collapsed during landing in Dakar, Senegal for a regular passenger flight from Praia^[11]
• On May 13, 2015 at 23:20 local time, TACV Boeing 757 (D4-CBP) with 96 passengers on board, made an emergency landing at Fortaleza International Airport. Notable damage was observed to the flaps (a component of the wing that supports the stability and speed of the flight) which was detected by the crew. Its 96 passengers had to wait for a week in Ceará's capital, because there was no other route. Later, it made the flight back to Praia without passengers to finish its maintenance. The passengers only boarded back to their destination eight days later on May 21.^[12]

References

External links

• Official website

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