TAAG signs $200 million cargo deal connecting Asia to Africa and South America

TAAG Angola Airlines (TAAG) has signed a commercial agreement for intercontinental cargo transport with Chinese aviation group China Lucky Aviation (CLCA). The deal has been valued at $200 million.

CLCA is an aviation services company specializing in the passenger and cargo business.

The deal, which is part of TAAG’s “strategy to diversify revenue streams”, will leverage the airlines’ fleet on a charter contract basis to operate intercontinental cargo transport flights connecting Asia to Africa and South America, TAAG said in a statement.

“The cargo to be transported will be raw materials, agricultural products, electronics, and miscellaneous goods,” the airline said.

Operations under this agreement will commence shortly on the Changsha (CSX) – Luanda (LAD) – São Paulo (GRU) route, the airline added. This will connect three countries from different continents, namely China, Angola, and Brazil.

TAAG will operate two weekly flights on the route with its Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft and expects to increase capacity by adding a Boeing 777-300 ER with a 76-tonne load capacity.

However, TAAG said the agreement “is open to scalability”.

“There is a huge potential for new routes with origin in other Chinese cities, namely Hong Kong (HKG), Chengdu Tianfu (TFU), Guangzhou (CAN), Chengdu Shuangliu (CTU), Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA), and Beijing (BJS), China capital city,” said the airline. “There is also the opportunity to connect to other destinations, namely the BRICS countries such as India, sub-Saharan African countries, and key cities in Europe.”

TAAG aims to position its hub in Luanda, Angola, based on the west coast of Southern Africa, as a “major gateway” to other markets.

The airline added: “TAAG’s growth strategy is to empower businesses around the world, creating synergies between countries and position Luanda as a major gateway to Latin America, Rest of Africa, Asia, and Europe.