THREE IS BETTER THAN TWO BUT ANGOLA STILL KEEPS ITS AIRSPACE UNDER LOCK AND KEY
(Posted 15th September 2014)
After four years of bilateral negotiations has Angola finally put pen to paper last week to allow one more frequency between the two countries, up from previously two. While the news was welcomed in aviation circles have regular sources swiftly pointed out that Kenya Airways has in fact been flying three times a week already between Nairobi and Luanda, using a B737-800NG under flight number KQ 770.
It was also mentioned that effectively Angola remains a country which keeps her airspace under lock and key and is one of Africa’ most restrictive nations vis a vis the Yamoussoukro Agreement which, considering how some African governments implement or rather not implement this ground breaking aviation accord, remains a distant vision punctured by the stark reality of national protectionism.
Angola, one of Africa’s oil rich countries with an extensive coast line and a vast interior, has the dubious reputation to see the capital Luanda regularly named as the most expensive city in Africa and among the most expensive ones in the world and has, to put it mildly, been selectively restrictive on foreign investments and, as mentioned, opening up the airspace.
Regular aviation sources have expressed mixed feelings that it took four years to add or rather sanction just one more frequency, claiming there remains underserved demand for flights to Luanda not just from Nairobi, but stifled by the regulatory imposition of the number of flights permitted between Angola and other countries in Africa. ola’s airspace – one flight at a time
