TAAG Angola Airlines
TAAG Angola Airlines E.P. (Portuguese: TAAG Linhas Aéreas de Angola E.P.) is a state-owned airline and flag carrier of Angola. Based in Luanda, the airline operates domestic services within Angola, medium-haul services in Africa and long-haul services to Brazil, Cuba, and Portugal. The airline was originally set up by the government as DTA – Divisão dos Transportes Aéreos in 1938, rechristened TAAG Angola Airlines in 1973, and gained flag carrier status in 1975. It is now a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the African Airlines Association. The airline uses Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport as its hub.
Key facts
History
DTA – Divisão dos Transportes Aéreos (1938–1973)
The origins of the carrier can be traced back to 1937, when the president of Portugal Óscar Carmona asked Joaquim de Almeida Baltazar to create an airline in Angola. In September 1938, DTA – Divisão dos Transportes Aéreos was formed as a division of the Administration of Railways, Harbours, and Air Transport of Portuguese West Africa. It was owned and run by the government, which authorised the acquisition of three De Havilland Dragon Rapides and two Junkers Ju 52s, although the latter two aircraft were not delivered due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Operations began on 17 July 1940, using the dragon biplanes. The first routes to be operated were founded by the Aero Club of Angola and included two main lines: one running between Luanda and Pointe Noire, having connections with Aeromaritime services to Europe, and the other being Luanda–Benguela–Lobito that was later extended to Moçâmedes. Flights were intermittently discontinued during World War II due to the scarcity of spare parts, but by the end of the war, the airline resumed operations. Two Stinson Reliants bought from the Belgian Congo in 1944 permitted the carrier to resume coastal services. The DC-3 and the Beechcraft Model 18 joined the fleet in 1946. In March that year, a new route to Leopoldville was launched. The airline joined the International Air Transport Association in 1951. Also in that year, the company extended the Leopoldville route further east, serving Lourenço Marques, but this destination was later abandoned due to poor financial performance. DTA also operated a route linking Luanda with Lourenço Marques via Livingstone between 1951 and 1952; poor sales prompted the airline to terminate the service. A 700-mile (1,100 km) long route to São Tomé was launched in 1956.
By April 1960 (1960-04), the fleet was composed of four Beech 18s, seven DC-3s and three DH.89s. A year later, DTA became the third African airline in ordering the Fokker F-27, with two aircraft acquired. At this time, the company had a route network that was 3,300 miles (5,300 km) long. The F-27s were incorporated into the fleet in 1962. Served with these brand new aircraft, Windhoek was added to the route network that year.
TAAG Angola Airlines (1973–present)
Following its renaming to TAAG – Transportes Aéreos de Angola on 1 October 1973, the airline was reorganised and reconstituted. The company's shareholders at the time were the Angolan government (51%), TAP Air Portugal (29%) and ex-DTA employees (20%). Four Boeing 737-200s were ordered in 1974. The same year, a new livery including the Palança Negra was unveiled. Three F-27s and six DC-3s composed the fleet by March 1975 (1975-03). Following the rise to power of the communists, that year the country gained independence from Portugal; the airline became Angola's flag carrier in October. In November, the company took delivery of the first Boeing 737-200. In January 1976 (1976-01), the delivery of two Boeing 737-200Cs was blocked by the US State Department; the embargo was lifted two months later following the end of the civil war in the country. Valued at around US$18 million, these two aircraft were finally delivered by late April that year. In February the same year, an ex-Allegheny Airlines Fairchild FH-227 on delivery flight to Suidwes Lugdiens was forced to land at Luanda while flying over Angolan territory. The country seized control of the aircraft, which was later reported to be in service with TAAG, along with an ex-Argentine Air Force Caravelle and two ex-THY Turkish Airlines F-27s. Three Yak-40s entered the fleet in 1977, along with other Soviet-built aircraft; late this year, an ex-British Caledonian Airways Boeing 707-320C was sold to TAAG. In 1978, TAAG acquired two used F27s from Fokker, and another Boeing 737 was ordered a year later. A Lockheed L-100-20, registration D2-FAF, was involved in an accident while landing at São Tomé.
By March 1980 (1980-03), the carrier had a fleet of three Boeing 707-320Cs, three Boeing 737-200Cs, six Fokker F27s —four -600s and two -200s—, three L-100s —two -20s and one -30— and four Yakovlev Yak-40s to serve a number of domestic destinations, plus Brazzaville, São Tome, Lagos, Maputo, Lisbon, Moscow, Paris and Rome. The company was reorganised again during the year. On 8 June, a Yak-40 (registration D2-TYC) crashed near Matala killing all 19 occupants on board. On 16 May 1981, the crew of four on board a Lockheed L-100-20 Hercules, registration D2-EAS, lost their lives in an accident at Mongua. During the early 1980s, the fleet also included a small number of Antonov An-26s that started being phased out. One of these examples (D2-TAB) was involved in an accident at Monte Bibala on 29 November 1982; 15 people lost their lives. Another fatal accident took place almost a year later, on 8 November 1983, when the crash of a Boeing 737-200 (D2-TBN) at Lubango resulted in 130 fatalities. Serious financial difficulties were uncovered during 1984. In the mid-1980s, an L-100 Hercules was withdrawn from service and two Ilyushin Il-62Ms were acquired for operations to Cuba.
Its airports
Its main hubs
Airports that list it on their own website
These airports include this airline in the carrier list on their official website.
Other airports in its network
Route network according to OpenFlights (open route database). It may not reflect recent schedule changes.
Data from Wikidata (CC0) · summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
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This page was last updated on September 26, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, September 26). TAAG Angola Airlines. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/taag-angola-airlines
MLA
“TAAG Angola Airlines.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 26 Sept. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airline/taag-angola-airlines. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “TAAG Angola Airlines.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified September 26, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/taag-angola-airlines.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) TAAG Angola Airlines. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/taag-angola-airlines (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airline_taag_angola_airlines,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{TAAG Angola Airlines}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-09-26},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/taag-angola-airlines},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/taag-angola-airlines}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airline/taag-angola-airlines |title=TAAG Angola Airlines |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-09-26 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}Types it operates · 27 aircraft · 7 models
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