TAAG Angola Airlines has received authorization from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency ( EASA) to fly its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner fleet on services into Europe. Africa’s newest Boeing 787 Dreamliner operator will deploy the widebody on its Luanda-Lisbon pairing, which it currently serves with two daily Boeing 777-300ER flights.
The Angolan carrier welcomed its first 787-9 Dreamliner back in February 2025, and has since begun flying the larger 787-10 variant. The airline has a total of four 787s in its fleet, although EASA’s authorization extends only to the 787-9 variant.
TAAG Angola will now be able to operate its 787-9 Dreamliners in European airspace following EASA’s approval. According to the airline, the 787-9 will initially be deployed on its popular twice-daily connection between Luanda (NBJ) and Lisbon Airport (LIS), which is its only year-round service to Europe. It also maintains a seasonal connection with Porto (OPO) that currently sees Boeing 777 service.
The Angolan flag carrier made its first commitment to the Dreamliner at the Dubai Air Show in 2023. This materialized as an order for two 787-9s and two 787-10s as part of a sale-and-leaseback agreement. The first 787-9 (registration D2-TEQ) arrived in February 2025, while its two 787-10s arrived in November. The 787-10 made its commercial debut in the same month, flying to São Paulo on November 30. TAAG Chairman Clóvis Rosa commented,
“EASA’s authorisation for the operation of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in Europe represents an important recognition of the technical, operational, and regulatory compliance work that TAAG has been carrying out.”
The airline has two 787-9s and two 787-10s, none of which were purpose-built for the Angolan carrier itself. Its two 787-9 airframes were initially intended for MIAT Mongolian Airlines and TUI Airways, but were not taken up by either carrier. As for its two 787-10 aircraft, both were scheduled for delivery to Vietnam Airlines but were not taken up.
TAAG’s two 787-9s have differing onboard configurations. The first, D2-TEQ, can seat up to 313 passengers across three cabin classes. This includes a business cabin with 16 seats in a 1-2-1 layout, 21 premium economy seats and 276 in economy. The other 787-9, D2-TER, can accommodate up to 345 passengers in two cabin classes — this aircraft does not have a business class product, instead offering 63 premium economy and 282 economy seats.
Both 787-10s feature the same layout of 367 seats across two cabin classes. The business cabin can seat up to 24 in a 1-2-1 configuration, with 343 seats in economy. TAAG has previously hinted that it may choose to reconfigure some of these jets in the future.
The aircraft will be delivered in February 2025.
The carrier is already using its Dreamliners on its non-European long-haul network, flying to the likes of São Paulo. It will also be deploying its 787 fleet to China next week with the resumption of its connection with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN), a city it has not flown to since the pre-pandemic era.
In fact, TAAG will become one of only seven carriers operating direct flights between Africa and China, according to a ch-aviation report. Of the other six airlines flying to China, four operate direct services to Guangzhou — Air Algeria, Air Tanzania, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways.
As per AeroRoutes, the airline had initially scheduled the larger 787-10 as its equipment of choice to Guangzhou, which will see one weekly flight commence on June 23, 2026. However, TAAG has since indicated that the 787-9 will be deployed on this route. The airline also has ambitions to fly the 787 to the United States, eyeing a connection with Houston sometime in 2027. However, there are still significant regulatory hurdles to overcome before this route can be established.
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