Africa-Press – Cape verde. The painting of the Boeing 737-700 from TAAG, leased from TACV, with the colors of the national flag, should only happen there in July. The priority at the moment, A NAÇÃO learned, is centered on the renewal of the IOSA Certificate. The Praia/Boston flights should only take place there “towards the end of the year”. The good news is that the plane already has a Cape Verdean registration and is already flying with a mixed crew.
After the certification of TAAG’s Boeing 737-700, leased to TACV with the National Air Operator Certificate (OAC), the company’s attention will now be turned to the renewal of the IOAS certificate (Safety Audit Program of the International Air Transport Association – IATA).
The last IOSA was renewed in 2019 and, now, the management of TACV is focused on preparations for the renewal of this important international certificate, which allows it to operate across borders.
In this context, painting the TAAG plane with the colors of TACV should not be a priority for the national flag carrier, also taking into account the financial factor and the large expense that this entails.
However, the important thing, for now, is that the aircraft already has a Cape Verdean registration, D4-CCI. In fact, the first flight already with the certification of national air operator (OAC) issued by the Civil Aviation Agency (AAC) took place successfully last Monday between Praia/Lisbon/Praia.
“Nervousness”
Although, everything went with some normality, according to A NAÇÃO sources, the process caused some “nervousness” to the Angolans, especially because “they were not used to such strict criteria”.
“There were some mishaps because of the crew and also due to the fact that the aircraft had some deficiencies, which had to be corrected, according to our stringent requirements and AAC procedures. Therefore, the aircraft had to be prepared with the minimum requirements required”, explained a source from A NAÇÃO who followed the process closely.
At the moment, the Boeing 737-700 is flying with a mixed crew, with two Cape Verdeans and the rest Angolan staff. This, due to the fact that, on the one hand, the TACV staff was not familiar with the Boeing 737-700, which was in the preparation phase, and, on the other hand, due to the fact that the national crew had been idle for a long time, without fly and most with expired licenses. “We are working on familiarizing the device and preparing the licenses”, he added.
In this sense, part of the Angolan crew assigned to TAAG had to undergo tests, including medical tests, to be authorized and certified to fly as TACV crew, already with the plane with Cape Verdean registration, otherwise, there would be no crew members. enough. “They (Angolans) were trained according to our regulations and TACV policies”, explained our interlocutor. According to him, everything points to that “within a month” the crew of the 737-700 leased by TAAG to TACV should already be all Cape Verdean.
“Dry leasing” regime
Since last March, TAAG’s Boeing 737-700 was leased, under a wet leasing regime, to TACV, that is, with Angolan crew. dry leasing”, that is, operating with the colors of TACV and national crew. Under this regime, the entire maintenance service will be guaranteed by Cape Verdean personnel, and the insurance will be TACV’s responsibility.
Currently, TACV is flying between Praia/Lisbon and São Vicente/Lisbon, the two most popular routes, and Sal/Lisbon. Regarding the Praia/Boston route, which had been scheduled for the beginning of the second half of the year, it should only happen more “towards the end of the year”, or, at least, until a new, more efficient device appears to operate on that route. . The 737-700, the only aircraft assigned to TACV, “is not profitable” to fly to Boston. “It would have to be a bigger plane, because of the cargo and fuel.”
The company thus continues to struggle to remain operational in an adverse scenario and buried in debt. As published by the previous issue of A NAÇÃO, an opinion from the Civil Aviation Agency (AAC) stated that TACV “does not have the financial capacity” to support its commitments. Which means that it does not meet one of the legal requirements for maintaining the air exploration license.
Debt restructuring: Government renews guarantee of 771 million escudos This week, the Government authorized the Directorate-General of the Treasury to renew the guarantee granted to TACV, in the amount of 771,855,000 escudos, for the debt restructuring process, currently held by NEWCO, SA.
According to Resolution No. 52/2022, published in the Official Gazette, in 2017 TACV took out a bank loan in the amount of 1,488,577,500 escudos (13.5 million euros) to fulfill the company’s restructuring plan.
The amount in question, explains the document, was obtained from Banco Privado Internacional, SA (BPI, SA), Banco de Negócios Internacional (BNI Europa) and Banco de Negócios Internacional, SA (BNI Internacional, SA), and, as guarantee of the credit, a State guarantee was issued for a period of two years, with the possibility of extension for an equal period, in accordance with Resolution No. 111/2017, of 11 October.
According to the aforementioned document, within the scope of the privatization process of TACV, through Decree-Law no. of third-party credits transferred by TACV, as determined by the board of directors.
“The credits held by TACV with the aforementioned creditor banks were then transferred to NEWCO, SA, and the amounts of €949 thousand euros and five million euros in BPI, SA., as capital, interest overdue and interest on arrears”, reads the Official Bulletin.
In this context, in order to create the conditions that allow the resolution of this debt, NEWCO, SA negotiated with the creditor banks the extension of the financing agreement, until December 15, 2023, subject to the condition precedent of the renewal and maintenance of the guarantee granted until the end of loan maturity.
“In this case, in the case of a debt restructuring with more advantageous conditions, the State of Cape Verde recognizes the manifest interest in creating the necessary conditions to support the company and considers that all the conditions required for the renewal of the guarantee are met. , therefore, this resolution is approved”, the document advances.
Thus, under the provisions of articles 5, 7, 8 and 16 of Decree-Law no. 42/2018, of 29 June, and pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 265 of the Constitution, the Government approved the aforementioned resolution authorizing the renewal of the guarantee to TACV. The endorsement expires in December 2023.
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