Luanda - Angola plans to certify the Catumbela International Airport, in centre-west Benguela Province, and the southern Huila Province airport, within the next two years, in order to boost international traffic and stimulate the country's economy, said Monday in Luanda the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Airports Management Company (SGA), José Tavares Venâncio.
Currently, Angola has only one airport with international traffic certification, which is the 4 de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, capital city. This situation may change with the conclusion of construction of the new Luanda International Airport and modernisation of Catumbela, as well as Huila Province.
According to José Tavares Venâncio, who was speaking to ANGOP on the occasion of the swearing-in of the new board members of the companies supervised by the Ministry of Transport, the Catumbela International Airport is already being modernised.
“There are still some investments to be made, in terms of technical capacity and also a number of other procedures to be concluded, which is why it has not yet been certified”, he added.
The official informed that the certification of an airport is not an administrative act, but a technical one, which demands, besides other competencies, the capacity of the airport infrastructure to be able to serve, without operational risk, its users.
Currently, Catumbela and Huila airports have been receiving large, medium and small planes, mainly from the Angola Airlines (TAAG), which has been doing domestic routes.
In addition to the challenge of airport certification and easements, he said that in his mandate he has a continuous agenda to improve the conditions in quality and comfort of passengers, as well as the technical training of human resources.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new board members of companies supervised by the Ministry of Transport was presided by the minister of Transport, Ricardo d´Abreu, who stated that the changes in management have the purpose of “increasing the contribution of the Transportation sector in Angola´s economic growth and stimulate the attraction of national and foreign private investment”.
The airport management company CEO said that he expects commitment from all those who have been appointed so that Angola and Angolans may enjoy, increasingly, a mobility corresponding to their needs, both in terms of passenger transport, goods and the value chain.
