Angola’s TAAG Airline launches Nairobi flights as AirAsia exits Kenya
Kenya's ambassador to Angola, Joyce M'maitsi, hailed the flights as an opportunity to deepen trade and interconnectivity.
Angola's flag carrier, TAAG Airline, has launched a thrice-weekly service between Luanda and Nairobi, on the very day that Malaysia's AirAsia bowed out of Kenya.
The move strengthens air links between Southern and East Africa at a time when Angola's aviation sector is trying to reposition itself.
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The service, inaugurated on September 1 with a pre-launch ceremony in Luanda, will be flown on TAAG's Airbus A220-300, marketed for its fuel efficiency and cabin comfort.
From early October, operations will shift from the ageing Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport to Angola's new Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport, a project central to the country's bid to turn Luanda into a regional hub.
Kenya's ambassador to Angola, Joyce M'maitsi, hailed the flights as an opportunity to deepen trade and interconnectivity.
She joined the maiden service, which received a water-cannon salute on arrival at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Kenya's principal secretary for foreign affairs, Korir Sing'oei, called the launch "a great milestone in Kenya–Angola relations and connectivity—now to more trade and tourism."
The Kenya Airports Authority, eager to bolster Nairobi's status as a hub, praised the new route as broadening options for travellers and strengthening links not only within Africa but also with Asia and Europe.
The juxtaposition of TAAG's entry with AirAsia's exit underlines both the opportunities and fragility of African aviation: where Gulf and Asian carriers dominate long-haul routes, African airlines are still struggling to stitch together reliable intra-continental networks.
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