Flights to Cape Verde

The countdown is underway until November 2006 when Birmingham airport begins direct flights to Praia, Santiago. These will be with Cape Verde’s national airline, TACV and approximate flight time will be around five and a half hours.

There is already a wide range of direct routes from major European cities such as Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, and Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. America is linked by flights out of Boston, New York, Houston and Atlanta. These European and American flights land on the island of Sal.

Lisbon is the most frequent entry point with flights every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday to Sal and every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday into Santiago.

Amsterdam is the interchange point each Thursday and from Paris you can reach Sal every Monday.

The new Praia airport will make a huge difference to Cape Verde as it can handle bulk carriers like the Airbus 320 and Boeing 757 and 737 making it attractive to budget airlines. As the Sambala Village tourist village facilities come on line around the airport, more and more flights will switch from the old Sal airport.

TACV can be contacted at Rotterdam on (0031) 10411 5411 or Lisbon on (00351) 1323 0520. Up to date flight information can be found at http://www.teletickettravel.com and www.tacv.cv

What about flights and when will they start from the UK?

The carrier of Cape Verde is TACV. You can use your own travel agent, alternatively it may be more cost-effective to book your own flights and accommodation. TACV office in Rotterdam is 00 31 10411 5411 or Lisbon 00 351 1323 0520. TACV also have a desk at Lisbon airport. TACV fly direct to Cape Verde from Lisbon, Amsterdam and Paris. Presently, TACV fly from these destinations into Sal airport, but with the opening of the new Praia airport they will fly direct into Santiago instead. TAP- Air Portugal currently run a code-share with TACV on their flights direct between Lisbon and Sal, however, TAP will become sole operator of flights on this route once the new Praia airport begins operating.

TACV and Sambala are actively planning to operate a weekly charter flight directly between Birmingham and Praia starting from November 2006, once the Phase 1 buildings are complete in Sambala Village . The frequency of flights between Praia and the UK (perhaps including Stansted, Leeds and Bristol) will increase as Sambala Village and our other projects develop. Flight time will be 5hrs and 45mins between Birmingham and Praia.

Journey times are long currently and involve 3 separate flights to reach Praia over 12 to 14 hours including waiting for connecting flights. This will drop to 8 hours once direct flights to Amsterdam, Paris or Lisbon start operating and to under 6 hours once flights are direct to the UK.