I went to a two-week trip to Angola, Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire and Bissau Guinea. The plan was to take the following flights:
Keflavík to Lisbon, Icelandair
Lisbon to Luanda, TAAG
Luanda to São Tomé, TAAG
São Tomé to Principe, STP Airways
Principe to Sao Tomé, STP Airways
Sao Tome to Libreville, ASKY
Libreville to Cotonou to Abidjan, Air Côte d’Ivoire
Abidjan to Lomé, ASKY
Lomé to Dakar to Bissau, ASKY
Bissau to Lisbon, TAP
I originally had my flight from Lisbon to Luanda booked on 9th December and my flight from Luanda to São Tomé on 10th December as connecting flights only allow a maximum of 24 hours of layover. I would have preferred to stay at least a full day in Luanda, and when I arrived to Lisbon Airport in the evening of 7th December I was able, directly at the TAAG office, to rebook my flight to Luanda for the next day for a small fee.
My taxi from the hotel to the airport cost only 12 €. TAAG uses Terminal 1 at Lisbon Airport.
The terminal was quite full at about 6am but I was already checked in and had access to fast track.
TAAG business class passengers have access to the ANA lounge. It's in the Schengen area. You have to go upstairs - follow the signs.
You have access to the ANA lounge, but it's shown as ZNZ.
The lounge was full at about 75%, which was much better than most other parts of the airport that seemed to be fulll at 95%. These photos show the only area where there were no guests.
There was a modest selection of food.
I spent about 30 minutes in the lounge.
Passport control was only 5 minutes for EU passport holders but seemed to be at least 20 minutes for others.
Our plane today, a B777-300, registration mumber D2-TEK, built in 2016. The routing of the plane is not varied: it flies every day from Luanda to Lisbon and back.
Boarding started at 07.30 with disabled and business class passengers.
This plane has a large business class cabins with a total of 46 seats in a 2+3+2 configuration. There are seven rows on the two sides and six rows in the middle. There's also a mini business cabin in the front with one row with an additional 7 seats. Load was very light with only 13 passengers in business class for a total of 53 seats.
There's is also a first class cabin, although it had no passengers.
The cabin was very spacious with plenty of legroom at each seat.
Seats H and K.
Seats 5H and 5K.
My seat for this flight: 5K.
There are three seats in the middle.
The business cabin was not in well maintained condition and looked like it was around 19 years old, not 9 years.The armrest on the seat next to mine.
The built-in screens.
Welcome drink.
An expected flight time of 7 hours and 5 minutes was announced.
"We're still waiting for 36 missing passengers. We lost our slot so we have to wait for another hour." More announcements were made several times about our delay.
The view while waiting:
Safety demonstration was done manually.
Push-back was at 09.07 for a scheduled departure time of 08.25. We took off at 09.21 from runway 20.
The view after take-off.
The José Alvalade Stadium.
The Restelo district.
Costa de Caparica.
I tried to turn on the flight map after take-off. The remote control was disgustingly dirty. I tried the one for the seat next to mine but it was didn't work. I then asked a crew member if the screens work but the answer was "Sorry, they don't.".
So I can look out on the windows.
Or read the on-board magazine.
A small hot towel was offered 25 minutes after take-off.
An amenity kit was offered shortly after.
Breakfast was served 45 minutes after take-off. There was no menu card or choice, but breakfast looked and was good both in quality and quantity.
The hot meal was crêpe filled with omelette. There was some cheese, fruit salad, greek yoghurt, butter, honey, jam, crackers. I also had some sweet cocos bread and a bun.
We were already above Morocco by this time.
The seat transformed into bed is quite comfortable.
A pillow and a blanket our provided but their quality is not the best.
I slept from about the Morocco-Mauritanianl border to almost Timbuktu.
I enjoyed the view as we were over Burkina Faso.
I slept again from Ouagadougou until almost Benin's coastline.
Lunch service started around this time with a cold towel. There was no printed menu. I was asked what I wanted to drink; I ordered some white wine and Coca Cola. The drinks were served with some packed peanuts. I had no idea what wine I was served. The crew member didn't understand my question; she sent the purser who asked me "Do you want something?", and she eventually showed me the bottle (it was some Portuguese white wine).
A crew member came a short time later.
"I have chicken with mashed potatoes and beef with rice'.
"I'll have beef."
The meal as served:
The salmon was excellent. The small salad was very good. The beef was difficult to cut and the taste was average.
The options for dessert were cheesecake, cheese or fruit. I had some cheese.
We flew over the Equator at 14.45.
TAAG's on-board magazine about aircraft maintenance:
TAAG's destination and fleet.
The view seconds before landing.
We landed at the new Luanda Airport (NJS) at 17.17 amd were at the gate at 17.22 for a scheduled arrival time of 17.00.
Luanda's new airport, 45 km from the city centre, is big (too big for current traffic), nice and modern. I was in the car park 18 minutes after landing. Passport control took just a few minutes and no questions were asked.
My impressions of Angola:
Angola has a difficult history. More slaves were brought from here to America than from any other African countries. It was a Portuguese colony for almost 500 years which ended by the Angolan War of Independence between 1961 and 1974, and was followed by the Angolan civil war from 1975 to 2002. The country is very peaceful now.
The capital city of Luanda, population 8 million, has a mix of slums, older buildings (some neglected and some beautifully restored), new office and condo towers. There's an extremely wealthy elite but life is difficult for most people. Unemployment is high, and those who have a job often earn only around 100 USD a month, while Luanda is one of the most expensive cities in Africa: a cheap lunch costs about 5 USD. There are long queues at the bus stops.
The country has great potential in tourism. Visa-free travel has been possible for a few years for most people. There's a long coastline with pristine beaches, the nature is untouched over hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, and most importantly, the people are friendly all over the country.
A typical street in Luanda with a mix of old and new buildings:
The Iron Palace
The Museum of Slavery south of Luanda
A mask from the Museum of Anthropology
An Angolan licence plate
A monument of Independence in the socialist-realist style
A plane from the Museum of Military History
Fortress of São Miguel
Beautiful nature not far from Luanda
A lodge on River Kwanza
