Cape Verde’s national carrier Cabo Verde Airlines has received a four-year-old Boeing 737 MAX 8. That is the second aircraft to be added to its fleet, allowing the carrier to bolster current routes and tap into latest markets. The aircraft’s arrival might be celebrated today with a naming ceremony at Amílcar Cabral International Airport (SID) on Sal Island.
Return of the MAX
The B737 MAX with registration D4-CCJ has been leased from Boeing Capital Corporation (BCC) and can enter Cabo Verde Airlines (CVA) service as a part of a long-term fleet development strategy. Records show that the four-year-old aircraft was first delivered to South Africa’s Comair in February 2019 but exited the fleet when the kind was grounded in March 2019. Now the MAX has successfully returned to industrial operations with the island carrier.
Photo: Boeing
Having been unused by a scheduled carrier for 4 years, the aircraft began its journey to Cape Verde on July 18. It took off from California’s Victorville Airport (VCV) and made a five-hour flight to Rhode Island’s Windfall Airport (PVD). The MAX left Windfall at 14:07, arriving at Nelson Mandela International Airport (RAI) within the Cape Verdean capital of Praia.
The successful delivery of D4-CCJ is a big milestone for the corporate, which has been battling several challenges because it was rebranded in May 2018. Its arrival was celebrated by the bottom staff and just a few other witnesses present at RAI on Tuesday. Today, the aircraft might be officially unveiled to the general public at a special ceremony at its hub on Sal Island.
Additional capability
Cabo Verde Airlines has been operating a single B737-700 to 5 destinations in three countries. Its principal international route is between Nelson Mandela-Praia Airport and Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS), while it plans to operate flights to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG).
Photo: maurodopereira / Shutterstock
Partnerships with the agencies are very essential because the carrier plans to reinstate various international connections. The carrier also plans so as to add more aircraft to satisfy the increasing passenger demand. Cape Verde Minister of Tourism and Transport said;
“We’ll do it in line with the market, but the target is to proceed to extend. Because aviation firms, because they’ve a really high fixed cost structure, must grow as a way to have enough revenue and face the numerous costs they’ve since it is a capital-intensive industry, like all of ours.”
In step with the industrial strategy, Cabo Verde Airlines will regularly introduce more flights and possibly return to Brazil and the US within the near future.
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