TAP with three more Luanda-Lisbon flights planned and passengers exempted from testing
The Portuguese air carrier TAP will make three more special flights on the Luanda-Lisbon route, on the 3rd, 8th and 10th of July, according to information available on the page of the Portuguese consulate in Luanda.
Because these are special flights, passengers are exempt from proof of testing for the new coronavirus, which has become mandatory for anyone traveling from Portuguese-speaking countries (in the case of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo) and United States of America, according to an order on Tuesday that stipulates the new measures applied to air traffic to and from Portugal.
The diploma states that passengers on flights from those origins, exclusively on trips considered “essential”, must present, at the time of departure, proof of test with negative result for the new coronavirus, carried out in the last 72 hours before boarding, under penalty of being refused entry to Portugal.
“Exceptionally”, and if they have not carried out the test at the origin, the Portuguese or foreigners with legal residence in Portugal may do so in national territory, the costs being borne by them.
These rules do not apply, however, to passengers traveling through so-called “humanitarian” or “repatriation” flights that depend on specific authorization from local authorities, according to a response sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Lusa agency.
It is the case of Angola that, with air borders closed since March 20 to try to contain the spread of the covid-19 pandemic, it has only authorized the entry and exit of cargo or “humanitarian” flights for the return of foreigners to their countries. source.
TAP has been operating the Luanda-Lisbon route with some regularity, with flights scheduled for Friday and next week, and interested parties should contact the travel agencies or the airline.
Angolan carrier TAAG has also been making connections between the Angolan capital and the Portuguese capital, with the next scheduled for Thursday.
The covid-19 pandemic has already claimed more than 511,000 deaths and infected more than 10.5 million people in 196 countries and territories, according to a report by the French agency AFP.
Angola registers 284 infected by the new coronavirus and 13 dead.
In Portugal, 1,579 people out of 42,454 confirmed as infected died, according to the most recent bulletin from the Directorate-General for Health.
The disease is transmitted by a new coronavirus detected in late December in Wuhan, a city in central China.
