Angola's civil aviation authority has rescinded British Airways' (BA) permit to fly into the African nation, a spokesman for the airline said today.
"We were informed on Friday by the Angolan CAA that it had rescinded BA's seasonal operating permit with immediate effect," a BA spokesman said. BA operates one return flight a week between London and Luanda.
The ban came after British authorities informed Angola's national carrier, TAAG-Angola Airlines, that it would not be allowed to fly to Britain. TAAG was scheduled to begin a passenger service into Gatwick airport this month.
The European Union said last week that it would ban the state-run Angolan carrier from EU skies, citing concerns about its safety record. The EU could make its ban effective as early as this week.
TAAG is struggling to improve a spotty safety record. One of its jets crashed while landing at an airport in northern Angola last week, killing five people.
The carrier recently purchased a number of new Boeing jets to help it expand routes in Europe, Africa and South America, and to introduce services to Beijing, Houston and Dubai.
