TAAG is the world’s most inefficient airline in aircraft utilization

Aircraft operated by the state-owned airline are used an average of five hours per day. The situation reveals severe inefficiency. Hundreds of millions of dollars invested by the State, along with the airline’s operational strategy, are raising concerns among specialists.

TAAG received the lowest scores in terms of aircraft utilization, ranking far below airlines that, for example, operate smaller fleets. The findings come from an analysis on “Global Aircraft Utilization” prepared by Skailark, a German aviation strategy and analytics provider, exposing the inefficiency of the airline, which has faced repeated criticism over flight management, including numerous cancellations and delays justified by operational issues.

According to the Skailark report, consulted by Valor Económico, the airline’s aircraft were utilized for an average of just five hours per day during the first three months of this year, representing an 18% decline compared to the same period last year.

The report includes all flights operated under the airline’s brand, including owned aircraft, regardless of whether they were operational, in storage, or under maintenance. TAAG, managed by Clóvis Martins Rosa, ranks below all other airlines evaluated in terms of flight hours, both at continental and global level. It is followed by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), with 6.5 flight hours per day, and Air Algérie, with 7.3 hours per day.

Within Africa, the most efficient airlines are Ethiopian Airlines, with 13.1 flight hours per day, and Royal Air Maroc, with 12.1 hours per day. Globally, the most efficient carriers, recording more than 14 flight hours daily, include Oman Air, WestJet, Finnair, Hong Kong Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and SriLankan Airlines. These figures suggest that Angola’s national carrier is failing to efficiently utilize its fleet of 21 aircraft — a number unchanged in its latest financial report — raising questions over the significant investments made in recent years, much of them financed internationally and backed by sovereign guarantees.

Data from 2024 show that the Private Export Funding Corporation, backed by the U.S. Exim Bank, provided US$412.197 million for the acquisition of four Boeing 777 aircraft. An additional US$283.085 million from ABSA Bank Limited was allocated for the purchase of DASH-8-400 aircraft. Furthermore, the two financial institutions granted another US$150 million at the beginning of last year for the acquisition of three Boeing 787 aircraft, covered by a sovereign guarantee worth US$110 million in favour of TAAG.

Aviation specialist Manuel Jacinto argues that TAAG expanded largely based on a “fleet prestige” logic, whereas in “sustainable aviation the most important thing is matching the aircraft to the route.” He points to the use of Embraer aircraft for African domestic routes and Boeing or Airbus aircraft for intercontinental operations as examples of standardization.

“Angola still has low air mobility and limited purchasing power, making smaller aircraft more efficient on many routes. Today, many African airlines already follow this model, focusing more on operational efficiency than on aircraft size,” he notes.

Another specialist warns that, in aviation, a grounded aircraft generates no revenue — it only costs money. Pedro Castro argues that, beyond the statistics themselves, the low and declining productivity of TAAG’s aircraft reflects a destruction of value.

“One of the industry’s most expensive assets, at TAAG, is used on average only five hours per day. This is not merely inefficiency; it is value destruction. Average aircraft utilization in Africa is already lower than in other regions of the world. Even so, TAAG still manages to perform below this already depressed level — meaning that even in a weak environment, it performs worse,” he laments.

Pedro Castro believes this should prompt essential questions regarding the effects of public investment: whether it increased the country’s connectivity, improved mobility for Angolans, or generated economic returns. “The only thing we know is that it generated enormous costs, measured in millions of dollars, whether for aircraft acquisition or simply to keep TAAG operational,” he says, predicting further losses for the airline in both 2025 and 2026.