European airlines look at up-and-coming Cape Verde

Picture: Paul Spikers

This tiny archipielago off West Africa features rarely in the news, let alone in the airline industry news, yet this last year there have been two corporate moves with a rather transformative potential

First it was Spanish airline Binter that invested in the creation of a new local carrier in Cabo Verde.

And you may think, well, this is quite a natural move for a Canary Islands- based carrier like Binter, as the Cape Verdian archipelago has many geographical similarities with the Canaries.

But the former Portuguese territory has drawn from another air operator based in an Atlantic island, just from a bit further North.

Icelandic airline Lofleidir will be in charge of restructuring TACV, the national airline of Cabo Verde, that has been going through some turbulence in recent times.

Despite its modest fleet of 1 Boeing 757, TACV operates quite an interesting route network from its West African base, with connections to Providence, Rhode Island as well as Northern Brazil, Africa and three destinations in Europe (Lisbon, Paris and Amsterdam). 

Let's see whether Loftleidir can do with it, but at first glance, looks like a possible aim could be to try replicate, in warmer waters, the sort of intercontinental hub that Icelanders have been running at home for decades.