Luanda - The governments of Angola and Zambia signed on Thursday (11), in Lusaka, a bilateral air services agreement for the operation of direct commercial flights between the two countries.

The legal instrument was signed, on the Angolan side, by the ministers of Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, and Frank Tayali, from Zambian, and was witnessed by the President of that country, Hakainde Hichilema, marking a new cycle of cooperation in the civil aviation sector, with direct repercussions on mobility, trade, tourism and regional integration, according to a note to which ANGOP had access.

According to minister Ricardo de Abreu, quoted in the document, “this agreement represents a significant advance for Angolan civil aviation, because it legally consolidates our capacity to operate new routes and reinforces Angola's position as a strategic hub in the Southern African region”.

He believes that the direct connection with Zambia is just the beginning of greater openness and connectivity that the country is building with its African neighbors and partners.

The note states that, the new instrument is aligned with the principles of the Yamoussoukro Declaration, the African Union's 2063 Agenda and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), reinforcing Angola's commitment to the liberalization of the aviation sector on the African continent.

In this regard, it updates and replaces the agreement previously signed in 2014 and the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2017.

The current agreement includes technical and operational provisions that will facilitate the allocation of traffic rights to designated airlines, paving the way for the creation of new direct connections between Luanda and Lusaka, and, in the future, to other important cities in the region.

With this initiative, Angola takes another concrete step in implementing its national air transport strategy, promoting economic development, cultural exchange and connectivity between peoples.

VC/CF/jmc