George Mawadri, Director of Sales, TAAG Angola Airline says the Nigerian Travel Market is resilient, exciting and prosperous, noting that the airline will respond to the growth with dedicated service and availability.
Speaking at an expanded travel trade forum in Lagos on Wednesday morning, Mawadri disclosed that the management of the Airlines has identified Nigeria robust travel industry as a critical investment opportunit.
He said the airline will respond positively with the deployment of new airbus series to 777 wide bodied dreamliners on the Lagos Luanda route and to many of its established routes to Madrid, Lisbon, Sao Paulo and London.
He noted that the layout time in Luanda, its operating hub, is systematically being addressed with the introduction of additional daily flights out of Lagos on Tuesdays and Saturdays apart from its night flights on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
He said rhe day flights depart at 2 pm in the afternoon on the days specified.
“We are working hard to respond to the expectations and travel plans of our customers, and that is why we are here to listen to your concerns and feedback so that we can serve you better and help sustain this very vibrant market,” he said.
On concerns and anxieties over refunds, the airline chief marketer for the Africa Region stated that requests for refund are promptly treated and scores Taag Angola high in meeting the refund expectations of trade professionals which are not complicated.
“I am sure we are ahead of other competitions in this area, and if there are issues with any of our clients, you can promptly reach us , certainly we don’t joke with such requests which are within established trade rules and regulations” He stated.
Speaking earlier, the Sales Manager, Nigeria, Olushola Olajide encouraged the trade professionals to take advantage of the airlines seamless connectivity to emerging tourism destinations in Windhoek, Namibia, Moputo, Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Town and Johannesburg to provide tours and adventure offerings.
“Luanda, Capital of Angola, shares the same rich, vibrant multi African culture with lagos.
“There is a big Nigerian community in Luanda, good affordable hotels and restaurants, with clean beaches stretching into miles of gregarious excitement and surrealism,” he said.
Olajide noted that the airline was gradually rebranding and changing its fleet so as to completely provide the needed travel experience.
He assured that those with group tours or trade visits to any its destinations beyond Luanda will be assisted with stressless departure, transit and arrival protocols for their clients apart from other incentives.
He said the airline also runs a cargo arm out of Lagos.
The General Manager, Mrs Gloria Atumu, expressed the airline’s gratitude to the trade professionals and National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) for good trade relations and support to TAAG Angola.
She noted that the large turnout of the trade consultants is indicative of the acceptance and availability of the airline to meet the needs of passengers and the travel professionals. Over 150 trade professionals physically attended the Lagos forum, while others from other states in Nigeria joined online.