20100401
africagoodnews

Angola's transport minister on Wednesday welcomed the removal of national airline TAAG from a European Union blacklist, saying the government made a "good decision" in restructuring the company.
TAAGairplane


"The government made a good decision when it began the restructuring and refounding of TAAG," minister Augusto Tomas told state radio.

"The effort does not stop there. TAAG has requirements to satisfy," he said.

The EU on Tuesday authorised TAAG (Transportes Aereos de Angola) to resume flights to European territory, three years after placing the airline on its list of carriers banned from Europe for security reasons.

"The (European) Commission recognises the improvements in the operations of TAAG Angola Airlines by allowing the air carrier to operate under certain strict conditions with specific aircraft to all destinations in the EU, not only to Lisbon," it said in a statement.

Under the decision, TAAG must engage in bilateral negotiations with authorities in each country before flying to new destinations.

The EU placed TAAG on its blacklist in July 2007. The decision caused the company close to 200 million dollars (148 million euros) in losses, according to the transport minister.

In July 2009, the EU authorised TAAG to resume flying to Portugal only.