Luanda - Thirty-five new buses of the Luanda Urban Collective Transport Company (TCUL) will operate on 10 routes connecting the municipalities of Luanda and the Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN) as from this Sunday.
These buses, with a capacity for 61 people each (27 seated and 34 standing), will operate on the Sequele/AIAAN, Cacuaco/AIAAN, Kilamba/AIAAN, Talatona/AIAAN, Benfica/AIAAN, Zango/AIAAN and Capalanca/Viana/Primeiro de Maio/AIAAN sections, according to the chairman of the Board of Directors of TCUL, Nelson Jorge.
The new buses aim to facilitate passenger access to the AIAAN, which will start receiving passenger flights from the Luanda/Cabinda route and vice versa from this Sunday, the 10th.
At a press conference, held on Thursday, at the new airport, Nelson Jorge clarified that bus services are divided into short and long semi-express, with prices ranging from 500 to 1,000 kwanzas.
The TCUL manager said that the short service covers 16 trips/day, while the long service includes nine runs per day, in the period between 4:00 am and 11:00 pm, when the last flight arrives.
He added that, in the coming days, the identification of the stops will be carried out, a work to be developed with the Transport and Urban Mobility office of the Provincial Government of Luanda.
With this, Nelson Jorge assured that the necessary conditions are created to respond to passenger mobility, in this first stage of the start of passenger flights.
Management company reiterates AIAAN readiness
On the occasion, the CEO of Airoport Temporary Operator (ATO), the entity responsible for the temporary management of the new airport, António Pombal, reiterated readiness for the start of passenger flight operations, on the 10th of this month.
He informed that, in this first phase, a commercial plan is outlined, which establishes the limited occupation of the commercial spaces that the airport has developed, with a view to giving priority to the future definitive operator.
In this perspective, 50 percent of these facilities are already occupied, with restaurants, cafes, taxi services, banking and other additional services.
In his turn, the chairman of the Executive Committee of TAAG, Nelson Oliveira, reaffirmed the transfer of the operations center of the national flag carrier from the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport to the AIAAN, whose infrastructure he considered more modern and adjusted to the challenges of today.
He said that TAAG is working to avoid cancellations of flights to Cabinda, from Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport.
In turn, the PCA of the National Land Transport Agency, Énio Costa, highlighted the ongoing work to improve accessibility to the new airport, with a focus on Avenida Deolinda Rodrigues and Fidel de Castro, in addition to the security and planning plan of traffic, the latter in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior.
He pointed to signage as another challenge to be resolved soon, in order to better guide people to the new airport.
Dr. International Airport António Agostinho Neto begins passenger transport operations on the 10th, with four round-trip flights to Cabinda, from 8am to 11pm. ACC/QCB/DOJ
