BA News :
"First ever scheduled services to Angola take off
London, Tuesday, October 8, 2002: The first ever scheduled airline service between the UK and Angola goes on sale tomorrow (Wednesday October 9, 2002).
British Airways is launching a new weekly service to the Angolan capital, Luanda, which will start from November 1, 2002.
The start of services follows extensive negotiations with the Angolan Government and the Angolan national carrier, TAAG.
Flights will depart from London’s Heathrow airport on a Friday and return from Luanda’s 4 de Fevererio International airport on a Saturday. The services will be operated by a Boeing 777 aircraft with a three cabin configuration, First, Club World (business class) and World Traveller (economy class).
British Airways’ Regional Director for Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Alan Burnett, said: “We are delighted to be introducing the first ever scheduled service between the UK and Angola. These new, direct services will significantly cut journey times as customers will no longer need to transit via Europe.”
Notes to Editors
The flight schedule is as follows:
BA 077 Heathrow to Luanda departs on a Friday at 19.00 and arrives in Luanda at 04.25 local time on a Saturday
BA 076 Luanda to Heathrow departs on a Saturday at 23.55 and arrives at Heathrow at 07.15
British Airways and its franchise partners currently operates approximately 330 flights a week to 30 destinations, in 21 African countries"
Fares will be pretty steep, given the "thinness" of the route, lack of competition etc.
Will probably be one of those few routes which fill up from the front-end first.
