It seems like Cape town has become the default getaway for me, if I would have just flown in economy again I would not have bothered with another report, but since I thought I should try business I thought it might be interesting. When asking friends about business class on TAAG's 777's they said it's fine, but I wasn't really sure what to compare it to, as I usually fly business on long haul and longer medium haul flights. On the 2 hour flight to Namibia or Sao tome, it really seems like a waste of ney for me.
The morning LAD
Ah, Luanda airport you're damn disorganized. Like no, joke its really bad. But since there are ways to get through security an easier I got through somehow… The check-in agent was painfully slow, even after asking, she allocated me seat 6D, which was not a window seat. But at this point, I was too exhausted to argue so I just took what I had and left in hopes of the flight not being full. (Spoiler alert it worked).
I then spotted a little, as I was quite bored.
The Antonov 74, a funny aircraft in my opinion
The TAAG 777 that would be operating the flight to Havana later that night (D2-TEE)
At this point, I started to make my way to the boarding gate, in this case, it was gate 3. You can't really mess up here as there are only 4 boarding gates. We were bussed to our gorgeous 777, Sundays are usually quite calm here, there were basically no aircraft on the tarmac.
The gorgeous GE90 of our 777
Information about the flight
Departure time: 8:40 (actual 8:52)
Arrival time: 13:40 (actual 13:24)
From: Luanda Quatro de Fevereiro (LAD)
To: Cape Town International (CPT)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER, registered D2-TEG, aged 7 years
I was one of the last passengers to board, and business class was very empty, so I assigned myself seat 6A, in the very first row of business class by the window. Then the purser came by with drinks, orange juice and water were served. Made me miss the welcome drink that THY offers.
Orange Juice and water
The seat on arrival
I thought that maybe economy gets the bitchy flight attendants and business gets the more promising ones. Nope, out of the 4, only one looked like she genuinely wanted to be there and help. On the other hand, she was a gem and did her best when 3 of her male colleagues were sitting in the galley.
We took off just a little behind schedule, but I didn't worry as the 777 has the capacity to make up lost time easily.
Take off from runway 25
We made a turn to the south and were soon flying over the Quicama national park and the Cabo Ledo region which was quite nice
Quicama national park from onboard the 777
At this point, the seatbelt sign was still on, which was quite excessive considering that we were at 37,000 feet. I also noticed that the recline function of 6A was stuck so I moved to 9A. Now, let me show you around the seat.
13'' IFE system and the legroom (I hate the navy blue finishes of everything though, not that nice)
The remote control for the IFE
Power sockets
At this point, omelate one of the male FA's came around asking for what we'd like to have for breakfast. The choices were either "toast or omelet" I was intrigued by the Toast option so I went for that. He also informed us that the IFE was broken. I didn't really care but I'm sure many people did. He then came around with hot towels and headphones.
Hot towel and headphones
The headphones were pretty trash, I was going to use mine anyways but still.
At this point, the breakfast was brought out. The option was actually french toast with custard and plums (not premium but pretty good), a fruit salad and yoghurt along with tea. The pastries were quite tasty as well. I ended up having a raisin danish, a croissant and a bread roll. Honey, jam and butter were also included of course. All in all a satisfying breakfast.
The breakfast
The food was cleared now, we were an hour and a half into the 3.5-hour flight. In the next two hours, I basically didn't see the flight attendants. Since the IFE was broken I was quite bored so I started on this report.
Flying over Namibia
Just a quick show of the seat recline, The seat was angle lie flat which was more than sufficient for a short daytime flight. But on the longer flights that TAAG operates (like their 16-hour marathon to Havana), it might be an issue.
Upright position
Lounging position
Lie flat position
I then ordered a coke which was brought to me quickly, the mood lighting was also turned on. At this point, we were 1.5 hours out of Cape Town.
Coke, Mood lighting and the almost empty cabin.
We started our descent around 40 minutes out of Cape Town, the views were nice though a bit dry due to the water shortage.
Over the coast
Flying through the cloud layer
On short final
We touched down on runway 01R at 1:17, exactly as foretold by the captain, we then taxied into our stand.
Touchdown
There were a couple of interesting aircraft
LH and Edelweiss A340-300's with the famous blow drier engines
We parked next to my favorite airline, this time an A330-300, sadly they don't fly to Luanda
Bye D2-TEG!
See more
Verdict
TAAG Angola Airlines
5.8/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew6.0
Entertainment/wifi3.0
Meal/catering7.0
Luanda - LAD
3.8/10
Efficiency2.5
Access6.0
Services3.5
Cleanliness3.0
Cape Town - CPT
5.9/10
Efficiency4.5
Access6.0
Services5.5
Cleanliness7.5
Conclusion
Overall this was a perfectly fine flight. We arrived on time and the catering was fine, and unlike on my past economy flights, the cabin wasn't so horribly worn. On the other hand, the crew was a pain to be with. The IFE was also unusable, which made this flight seem veeeeery long.
Until next time!
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The Cuba-Angola relationship dates back from the 1960's when Cuba wanted to gain a stronghold in Africa and Cuban forces fought side by side with the MPLA (Marxist–Leninist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola).
Thanks for a very interesting and exotic report! Like you say these seats are more than sufficient for a regional flight, but the hard product is lacking for long-haul flying. A shame the IFE didn't work. Looks like it was a beautiful approach into Cape Town. Thanks for sharing!
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6 reviews
6 Comments
Great report! Very informative. Beautiful aerials!
Thanks for sharing! :)
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