In December 2024, TAAG carried out the first (cargo) flight to Lagos (Nigeria), marking the start of operations at AIAAN, whose official construction cost remains undisclosed.
In its first year of activity, António Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN) handled 8,669.41 tonnes of cargo, equivalent to 6.6% of its annual capacity, at a time when the country’s largest airport infrastructure was still experiencing modest traffic from airlines operating in Angola.
Of this cargo volume, according to the Government’s Strategy for the Mobility of People and Goods, 7,748.52 tonnes, equivalent to 89.4%, corresponded to pure cargo, while belly cargo accounted for 10.6% (920.89 tonnes) between December 2024 and November 2025.
Built in the Bom Jesus area, in the province of Icolo e Bengo, and inaugurated on 10 November 2024, António Agostinho Neto International Airport was designed to handle 130,000 tonnes of cargo per year, with its cargo terminal hosting 26 operators.
With AIAAN still under the management of the Airport Temporary Operator, Angolan authorities have defined three phases for the transfer of operations from 4 de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda to the “New Airport”: (1) activation of the Cargo Terminal with the reception of the first cargo flights; (2) activation of the Passenger Terminal with the start of domestic flight operations; and (3) commencement of international flight operations.
TAAG Conducted the Inaugural Flight
On 19 December 2024, TAAG – Linhas Aéreas de Angola operated the first (cargo) flight to Lagos (Nigeria), marking the beginning of AIAAN’s operations. In October last year, the national flag carrier operated the first intercontinental commercial passenger flight using a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the Lisbon – Bom Jesus route.
António Agostinho Neto International Airport was built from scratch to serve as a reference hub in Southern Africa. The “giant” airport, capable of accommodating an Airbus A380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft, was designed for 15 million passengers per year and, in nearly one year of operations, handled 585,000 passengers, as reported by E&M.
Following TAAG, other civil aviation airlines operating in Angola have been transferring their operations from 4 de Fevereiro International Airport to the “New Airport,” including Emirates, Air France, TAP, Lufthansa and Ethiopian Airlines.
Recently, Angolan authorities announced that the consortium Corporación América Airports, which includes Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construção África, was the winner of the international public tender for the concession to operate, manage and maintain AIAAN for an initial period of 25 years.
Source: Economia & Mercado
