Africa-Press – Cape verde. TACV has not yet explained the reasons that led the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to ban it from flying to Europe, a fact that has already forced the company to rent a plane to make connections to and from Lisbon, Portugal.
To date, the company has only justified that for “operational reasons” the flights that were scheduled for the 7th and 8th of July were cancelled, thus causing inconvenience and damage to passengers, whose flights were only restored from Saturday, July 9.
«Passengers from Lisbon to Cape Verde are asked not to go to Humberto Delgado International Airport, and should wait for the instructions from the customer service of TACV, Cabo Verde Airlines. For additional information, passengers should contact customer service via the email [email protected]», read the statement released by the company.
The tone of that statement did not appeal to many, namely the main opposition party, the PAICV, which sees it as “as simplistic and irresponsible” as the company views the ban from the European Aviation Safety Agency.
TACV did not regularize Third Country Operator (TCO) certification
Thus, the PAICV has already announced that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has prohibited TACV from traveling to Europe because the company has not regularized the respective aeronautical certificate.
The national and international press as well as social networks have also echoed these arguments, making use of the most diverse sources with knowledge of this problem.
Américo Faria Medina, a specialist and expert in the sector, says that, since 2021, TACV had been alerted to the need to change to the TCO (Non-European Third Country Operator that performs commercial flights to the EU), required by the Agency. European Union for Aviation Safety (EASA).
This former member of the Board of Directors of Empresa Nacional de Aeroportos e Segurança Aérea (ASA) claims that TACV did not make the necessary steps to obtain this certificate issued by EASA, which is a mandatory prerequisite for applying for commercial traffic rights ( operating permits) with any Member State of the organization.
«Like our ostrich friend, she buried her head in the sand, because in the team (Operations Directorate) within the company, there is no living soul who knows how to set up/prepare a TCO Certification process; on the other hand and, in the good manner of an emerging subculture among us in recent years, managers, instead of grabbing the bull by the horns, as has already been done in the sector on other occasions (Dossier CAT I) chose to flee ahead and tried to deceive the European authorities. It may even work here, but anyone who knows this ecosystem set up by the Europeans knows that it doesn’t work there», wrote this aeronautical technician.
However, TACV denied this information, guaranteeing that the aforementioned flights were canceled “for operational reasons” and, according to Rádio de Cabo Verde (RCV), the chairman of the board of directors of TACV, Sara Pires, refused to comment, citing health reasons.
PAICV condemns amateurism of the current TACV administration
The PAICV (main Party in the position), in a press conference convened for this purpose, considers that this episode with TACV is “very serious” because it reveals “incompetence and irresponsibility in the face of such basic but relevant requirements of civil aviation ”.
“The amateurism and culture of mediocrity that characterize the current administration of TACV are not compatible with the management of such a specialized and complex sector as civil aviation”, warned the Secretary General of the PAICV, Julião Varela.
This leader of the largest opposition party considers that TACV is today a “company with no north, doing navigation in sight, without a commercial policy, in short, without a long-term development strategy and, adding losses to its shareholders, in this case, the Cape Verdeans”.
On the occasion, Julião Varela recalled that “this new episode adds to the already very precarious situation of TACV, with workers grappling with wages in arrears, while denouncing the difficult situation of the national flag company, which even already proposes a substantial reduction in workers’ wages”.
On the other hand, the PAICV demands that the outcome of the process of the Icelandair plane that had been arrested on the island of Sal, a year ago, be clarified and which, after all, will be returned to its owners, being, in the opinion of that party , to explain, with what guarantees the country was able to collect the high debts of Icelandair with Cape Verde, including the value of the sale of the company, that is, the 48 thousand contos then announced.
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