Angolan TAAG negotiates purchase of new aircraft with Boeing and Bombardier
The Angolan airline TAAG will negotiate the supply of new aircraft from 2020 with Boeing and Bombardier, under the fleet renewal process, according to presidential dispatch.
According to the document, dated January 14, the Angolan President approved the plan for the restructuring and modernization of the fleet of that state’s air carrier, authorizing the Minister of Transportation to “conclude contracts for the purchase and sale of aircraft with the Boeing and Bombardier companies“.
The order also authorizes the Minister of Transport to “unleash the instruments to structure and set up the financing operation for the acquisition of aircraft” and to “negotiate the refinancing of two Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft”, acquired by TAAG in recent years.
The measure is justified by the Angolan President with the “transformation and modernization” of TAAG – Linhas Aéreas de Angola SA, which “is a fundamental element for the consolidation of the policy of executive power for the Angolan civil aviation sector“, and “importance of the renewal of the fleet” of the Angolan flag company in order to “boost its business policy and achieve its strategic objectives“.
The Finance and Transport ministers, together with the TAAG administration, are also authorized “to start negotiations with the different funders available” for this purchase of the new aircraft – in an amount not specified in the document – as well as to complete the “different phases of the funding coverage process for the delivery of aircraft for the years 2020 and beyond“.
Previous information from the TAAG administration pointed to the objective of acquiring 11 medium-haul aircraft as part of the company’s modernization program as well as state-of-the-art Boeing 787 aircraft for long course.
The decision also has as a background the completion of the construction of the new Luanda airport.
The current fleet of TAAG consists of 13 Boeing aircraft, three of which 777-300 ER, with more than 290 seats and were received between 2014 and 2016. The company also has five 777-200, 235 seats, and other five 737-700, with capacity for 120 passengers, these used in the domestic and regional connections.
Reported in November that the partial privatization of the Angolan state carrier TAAG foresees the sale of up to 10% of the capital stock to other airlines, national or foreign, according to the new status of the company.
The document, approved by presidential decree of November 26, signed by the Angolan President, João Lourenço, states that TAAG’s capital stock is valued at 700,000 million kwanzas (about 2,000 million euros), represented by 2,000 million common shares.
“The shares of at least 51% of the capital stock at any moment in time shall be the property of the State or other entities belonging to the public sector,” reads the statute of the Angolan airline.
It further states that “the transfer and encumbrance of shares belonging to the State or to any public sector entity is always subject to the authorization of the holder of the executive power [President of the Republic]” and that the administration of TAAG shall refuse to sell shares the revocation of the company’s air transport operating license.
It is not yet possible to exceed the limit of 10% of shares subscribed exclusively by workers and retirees in the transport sector, and 10% of shares “by one or several foreign airlines” as “technology partners“.
A limit of 2% of shares to be subscribed by “any private national entity, and foreign public or private entity” is also foreseen.
