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Emirates ditches Angola national carrier, cuts Luanda flights over funds repatriation

Emirates ditches Angola national carrier, cuts Luanda flights over funds repatriation

Angola

Emirates airlines has terminated its strategic partnership with Angola’s national carrier, TAAG Angola Airlines.

The carrier has also reduced its scheduled flights to the Angolan capital, Luanda, both positions with immediate effect according to a statement signed by its president, Sir Timothy Clark and addressed to Angola’s Minister of Transport, Augusto da Silva Tomas.

The letter dated July 09, 2017; said the Dubai-based flier’s decision was due to issues around repatriation of its funds from the Luanda. ‘‘As I have previously indicated, the viability of our operations to Luanda is being severely impacted by limitations on the repatriation of our sales proceeds being accumulated in Angola on a daily basis.

Emirates announces end of agreement to manage Angolan airlines, due to restrictions on repatriation of money. See letter: pic.twitter.com/8×9MW1KPWA

— Zenaida Machado (@zenaidamz) July 10, 2017

‘‘I do have to stress however, that these limited operations will also come under review quickly if significant progress on the repatriation of our funds is not made in the coming days,’‘ the statement added.

The two airlines entered an agreement in 2014 which saw Emirates appoint several of its senior managers of the Angolan carrier’s board as part of efforts to help it reach sustainable profitability through a more commercially-viable network.

Reports, however, indicate that Emirates did not acquire any equity in TAAG based on the agreement. The Angolan capital was only recently named the most expensive city for expatriates according to Mercer Cost of Living Survey 2012.

The Southern Africa oil-producer and OPEC member has suffered from a drop in the global price of the commodity thereby suffering from chronic shortages of foreign currency given decreased revenue inflows from petroleum exports.

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