News from Islands
Cape Verde's Halcyonair to begin flying to West Africa
Praia, Cape Verde, 7 Jan – The Cape Verdean private airline Halcyonair is to acquire two new aircraft and begin flying to West Africa in a first phase and later to other continents, the company's president has announced.For the time being, the airline aims to reinforce inter-island flights, said Jorge Spencer Lima, adding that regular flights to six West African countries will begin after this month's expected arrival of the first of the two new aircraft.
Halcyonair, founded in April 2005, will begin regular flights to Bissau (Guinea-Bissau) and Dakar (Senegal), where the state-owned TACV Cabo Verde Airlines already operates weekly and daily flights, respectively, he said.
Once those flights are consolidated, Halcyonair intends to expand to Conakry (Guinea), Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Bamako (Mali) and Freetown (Sierra Leone), all in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The company, which currently has only one ATR aircraft, is now negotiating to obtain authorisation to fly to the six ECOWAS capitals, Spencer Lima said.
Later, when the second new aircraft arrives (at a still undetermined date), Halcyonair aims to link Cape Verde to Spain's Canary Islands and to other European and American destinations if the opportunity arises.
Halcyonair was founded by promoters seeking to create an alternative airline for the Cape Verdean market, where only the state-owned TACV was operating.
Source: macauhub
