Date: 17 May 2007
Route: Lisbon (LIS) – Luanda (LAD)
Distance: 3879mi/6241km
Flight: DT 653
Flight Time: 6:58h
Dep. Time: 22:46
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200/ER
Registration: D2-TED
Dep. Gate: 18
Seat: 32B

First some background information that may be of interest as this was the most complicated 777 trip to arrange for me so far.

I started to plan this in January 2007 and looked at different ways that this could work.
Every person visiting Angola needs a visa and from looking at Timatic, it looked like they were only giving those to people who were going there for work. So I checked their schedules very carefully on their website to look for possibilities to connect thru there. The website didn’t get updated very often and same could be said for their schedule in the CRS. First I was thinking of flying Ethiopian Airlines to LAD and then connect to JNB and that could have worked on certain days, but what if DT had a last minute equipment change to a 743 on the LAD-JNB flight ? I was just going to have to fly LIS-LAD or vice versa. I did find that once a week per direction, they did have a schedule with a few hours in LAD so it would be possible to transit without a visa (TWOV). It would work perfect with a visit to Stockholm so I called TAAG in London and made reservations with them in late March. I like to get the tickets directly from the airline so I made a one day trip to London to pick up the tickets in early April. It would be a very expensive trip but sacrifices are sometimes necessary to fly on 777s.

I arrived in the morning from IAD and then went directly to their ticket office. They were very friendly and gave me some pens and other TAAG items. But they would not accept a credit card, only cash and directed me to a travel agency. My concern with getting the ticket thru the agency was that the agency would say the flights were confirmed but TAAG would say that they were not. Nonetheless, I got the tickets from the recommended agency of TAAG and flew back to IAD that afternoon.

Another worry was that TAAG would change their schedule so that my short transit in LAD would not be possible and so that I would need a visa or not be able to go at all (more likely). I called them about once a week to make sure. In late April, their website didn’t show a flight LIS-LAD on the day I was scheduled so I called and they said not to worry, flight will go on that day. I did worry somewhat and even had to purchase a ticket on TAP from ARN to LIS in order to make sure I got there, since I was traveling at the beginning of a four day weekend in Europe and the flights were getting booked so flying standby ARN-LIS would have been difficult even with different connections.

Finally, it was time to leave ARN for LIS and the flight was delayed about an hour but I had about four hours in LIS so I should be okay and wasn’t too worried.

I saw the TAAG 777 when we landed in LIS and it was reassuring that it was there and that it was not a 743. I went straight to their check in counter after we landed and it seemed tucked away in a corner of the airport. The check in area was roped off like for US carriers in Europe but they just checked that I had a ticket and did not ask any security questions. Just before I got to the counter, a man asked if I could check a bag for him and I was a bit surprised to hear this but I said no, not sure if he was trying to set me up (if he was with TAAG security). Checking bags for another person is a major security violation. The guy at counter checked me in and asked for my visa and then asked for a supervisor when he discovered that I didn’t have one. The supervisor made me sign a paper (Declaration of Indemnity for Travel Documents). They wrote in Portuguese “Faite visa transito paro Johannesburgo” which I figured meant that I didn’t have a transit visa. They did check me in and gave a boarding pass for LIS-LAD but not for LAD-JNB. I asked if they could check me in the whole way but they said I had to check in again in LAD for that flight. Interesting to note that signage at their counter and on boarding pass was in the “new colors” of TAAG that had been rejected.

I did some spotting before heading to the gate and boarding started a bit late, at about 35 minutes before departure. Our plane was parked far away on a ramp so we had to take a bus there similar to what on used to take at Kai Tak in HKG a long time ago. We were dropped off at the rear of the aircraft and the stairs were very high and steep.

I was greeted at the door by a nice flight attendant and went straight to my seat. The configuration was 3-4-3 in economy class and I was hoping that the seat next to me would remain open. Someone did show up at the last minute but moved just as the shut the door to the aircraft. The flight was almost completely full in Economy class, not sure about Business or First class. The flight attendants were not all Black as expected but a mixture of Caucasians and Black, just like Angolans seemed to be as well. I just assumed that all Angolans were Black but there’s a big mixture similar to Brazil.











Seat was comfortable, legroom was okay and had a foot rest and a normal size PTV. Oddly enough the jack for the head set was straight in front instead of in the armrest. They had big pillows and very nice, soft blanket at every seat. I was seated towards the back in row 32; last row was 38 on TAAG’s 777. The seat also had the “winged” headrest to make for easier sleeping which is fairly standard there today. We pushed a few minutes late and the captain apologized a few times for this which was nice. Candy (honey) was given out at push back to help for the ears I guess and it was a nice gesture. We taxied out and took off towards the northeast I think and then started turning southeast right after take off.



Fairly soon after take off, dinner was served and it came with a pasta salad and I had the beef option and given a full size can of Fanta. The tray with dinner also came with a toothpick which I appreciate a lot. During dinner the crew came around again with a second round of drinks including wine which was great. The crew in general was a bit reserved but friendly. There was the new mood lighting but only in F and C class.



I tried their inflight entertainment system which is AVOD and it was okay. I hadn’t that high expectations but was somewhat impressed. I watched Dreamgirls which was okay and otherwise watched the Airshow map which was a different verision and really cool; it showed the aircraft taking off and going towards the destination and the cities that we would pass and at the same time showed distance and time as we would pass each city. Routing of flight was rougly over Malaga, Oran, Zinder in Niger, Douala and then more or less straight to LAD.









Water was offered once during the flight by the flight attendants. Breakfeast was served about hour and a half before arrival and was very small; smallest I have ever seen but very good. The breakfeast came with this great orange juice that I have also had on Varig, almost like a drink than juice in consistency and it’s VERY good but not sure what brand it is.








Decent was fast and we landed in LAD as daybreak began. I could see the city on approach and much of it seemed to be like shanty towns. We arrived very early despite leaving about 15 minutes late from LIS.



We parked at a stand right next TAAG’s other 777 and were bussed to the terminal which seemed very old and only had two stories. There was a staircase that had the sign “Transito” but also a door that was locked. Another woman soon got there as well and about ten minutes later, a representative from TAAG brought us past immigration thru different corridors and customs to the check in counter and an agent there check us in for the flight to JNB. He then went back with us to the departure lounge. The whole process was very fast; less than 10 minutes.

I did some spotting before catching the next flight to JNB which ended being on the same aircraft, D2-TED.



To sum it up, TAAG was a very pleasant surprise, having heard of horror stories on Airlinequality.com and also since they don’t really have a functioning website. TAAG was just as modern, comfortable as European carriers and it was a great experience. I was also very happy that everything worked.

I would highly recommend flying TAAG Angola Airlines!

Take Care

The777Man

[Edited 2007-06-12 20:46:45]