Luanda, Angola, 13 Nov – Angola’s Council of Ministers has dismissed the Board of Directors of airline Taag, due to it not being able to overcome the problems affecting the company, namely its inclusion on the European Union (EU) air safety black list.

After an extraordinary ministerial meeting, the minister for Transport, Augusto Tomás, told journalists that the exit of the current board of directors of Taag would coincide with the restructuring of the company with a view to creating a new airline in partnership with foreign airlines.

The decision, the minister said, was due to the fact that the board had been unable to, “overcome the alleged operational and safety obstacles for inclusion of the company in European airspace, which should have been one of its main tasks.”

The restructuring of Taag, announced by the minister, was due to the ban imposed in June 2007 by the European Commission on Taag flying in European air space due to safety issues.

According to Tomás, the company, “in 14 months has lost around US$700 million.”

As a way of emphasising the need to intervene, the minister noted that of the 124 world airlines, Taag was in 122nd place.

In order to solve the “serious” problem the flagship airline is facing, Tomás said that the Council of Ministers, as well as dismissing the board, had instructed the ministries for Finance, the Economy and Transport to nominate a management commission for Taag.

The three ministries were also given the responsibility of putting together a commission to manage Taag’s restructuring programme. (macauhub)