Delta Air Lines is to launch thrice-weekly direct service from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport to Luanda, Angola via Dakar, Senegal from 20 January.
The carrier will deploy Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the new route, and plans to codeshare with TAAG Angolan Airlines at a future date.
In addition to the new service, SkyTeam alliance partners Delta and Air France will continue to provide Air France-operated twice-weekly service between Luanda and Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, using Boeing 777 aircraft.
Once the new flights to Angola begin, Delta will operate flights to eight African destinations including Accra, Ghana; Abuja, Nigeria; Cairo, Egypt; Dakar, Senegal; Johannesburg, South Africa; Lagos, Nigeria; and Monrovia, Liberia.
It also intends to serve Malabo, Equatorial Guinea and Nairobi, Kenya once additional US government approvals are received.
Perry Cantarutti, Delta's senior vice president of Europe, Middle-East and Africa says: "This new service between Atlanta and Luanda will shave hours off of business travellers' itineraries between the US and Angola thanks to more direct routings via the world's largest airline hub in Atlanta."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
