TAAG Angola Airlines

Is TAAG Angola Airlines safe?

TAAG is a reasonable choice today, with a history worth knowing. The EU banned it in 2007 and only lifted its last limits in 2019, and every other Angolan airline is still banned from European airspace. TAAG's last fatal crash was in 2007. Since then it has passed the IATA safety audit (IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary) and is replacing its fleet with new Airbus A220s and Boeing 787s. We score it 70, below Kenya Airways (75) and above Ethiopian Airlines (68).

The weak points are the system around the airline and two depressurisations that injured people on board. In the more recent one, in 2024, more than half the oxygen masks did not drop.

TAAG and the EU Air Safety List

In July 2007 the European Commission added TAAG to its list of airlines banned from EU airspace, at a time when it flew six times a week between Luanda and Lisbon. In July 2009 the EU let it back into Lisbon, but only with named aircraft under strict conditions. For the next decade TAAG could fly to Europe only with its approved Boeing 737-700s and 777s. The EU removed it from the list on 16 April 2019, after its air safety committee agreed unanimously.

The list of June 2026 still bans every airline certified in Angola, except TAAG and the helicopter operator Heli Malongo. That matters for TAAG's score: the EU has cleared the airline, but it still does not trust the Angolan authority to oversee the others. This is why oversight scores 60, well below the 76–84 of EgyptAir and Royal Air Maroc, where the home state holds FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary and no airline is listed.

The 2007 crash at M'Banza Congo

On 28 June 2007, a Boeing 737-200 flying from Luanda to M'Banza Congo and Negage touched down short of the 1,800-metre runway at M'Banza Congo. The right main gear collapsed and the jet slid into parked cars and two buildings. Five people on board died, and the Aviation Safety Network records one more death outside the aircraft. It is TAAG's only fatal accident in 20 years, and the last in more than 15.

The other damage accident in the window was small. On 30 April 2017, the crew of a 737-700 at Soyo raised the gear handle by mistake during the after-landing checks, and the nose gear retracted because a ground sensor did not work. The nose came down on the runway, and nobody was hurt.

Serious incidents: the depressurisations

• 2 December 2024, Luanda to Cape Town. A 737-700 at 37,000 feet lost cabin pressure. The cabin altitude rose to 15,000 feet, and the crew descended to 10,000 feet and diverted to Windhoek. Namibia's preliminary report found that only 46% of the passenger oxygen masks deployed. One pilot, one cabin crew member and five passengers had minor injuries. The aircraft stayed in Windhoek for three weeks.
• 11 November 2018, Luanda to Namibe. A 737-700 lost pressure in cruise and returned to Luanda. Four passengers were hurt, two of them taken to hospital, and TAAG opened an internal inquiry.

A depressurisation can happen to any airline, but masks that fail to drop may point to maintenance, and the Namibian final report should say more. A month before our 10-year window opened, a 777 left Porto for Luanda with an unconscious ground worker locked in the cargo hold. The crew turned back to Lisbon and he survived. Portugal's investigators looked at the loading team, which belonged to the handling agent, not to TAAG.

One event happened on a TAAG flight but not on a TAAG aircraft. On 23 March 2023, DT652 from Luanda to Lisbon was an A330-300 hired with its crew from Hi Fly Malta when severe clear-air turbulence over Nigeria injured ten people; a cabin crew member broke a leg. Under our wet-lease rule it counts on Hi Fly Malta's record, not TAAG's.

Angola publishes few investigation reports, so most of what we know comes from foreign boards and the press. We score the incident record at 60 for that reason, not because the record looks clean.

What does TAAG fly?

Fleet trackers count 33 aircraft with an average age of 10.8 years (Planespotters data, July 2026): six A220-300s, four 787s, eight Boeing 777s, nine 737s and six Dash 8 turboprops. The tracker lists 20 of them as parked. That count may include older 777s and 737s waiting to leave or for heavy checks, and we do not score parked aircraft. The A220s fly regional routes in Africa, and the 787s and 777s fly the long-haul routes.

Flying TAAG: practical points

• Prefer the 787 or A220 where you can. They are the newest aircraft and fly most international routes.
• Check who operates flights inside Angola. Apart from the helicopter operator Heli Malongo, TAAG is the only Angolan airline the EU allows into its airspace. Every other Angolan airline is on the ban list, which matters for charters and connections to smaller towns.
• Know what to do if the cabin loses pressure. Put your own mask on before helping anyone else. If no mask drops at your row, call the crew at once: cabin crew carry portable oxygen bottles.

How we scored it

The accident record (80) is the strongest factor: no fatal accident in 15 years, held at the floor of that band by the 2007 crash on a small fleet. The fleet (74) comes next. Oversight (60), incidents (60) and the environment (60) sit together at the lower end, giving 70.