Cabo Verde Airlines expects to resume normal business as of next week after receiving a Boeing 757 on Saturday on a long-term operating lease, the airline said in a statement quoted by the Cape Verdean press.

The company also said that the aircraft will be put into service immediately after the checks required for commercial operation and added that it will take on another aircraft, under a wet lease, a system that includes both the airplane and crew.

Cabo Verde Airlines announced last week that it had cancelled 52 flights since 2 July, due to a lack of airplanes, “with the attention of the board focused on the passenger protection plan until the restart of normal activity.”

For the last 12 months the Cape Verdean has been managed by Icelandair, under a contract signed with the government to prepare the company, which has a liability of more than 100 million euros, for privatisation .

The management contract is over and the Cape Verdean government estimates that it will soon be able to move forward with the privatisation of the company by directly selling 51% to a strategic partner, and it is not yet known if the Icelandic airline is interested in the business.

A decree-law published in the Official Bulletin in September 2017 covers the total sale of Cabo Verde Airlines (formerly Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde), a 51% share reserved for a strategic partner, another 39% for investors and a third of 10% for emigrants and workers. (macauhub)