TAAG Angola Airlines

✅ Trip Verified | We Travelled to Lisbon with TAAG without much problems on the outbound leg. The Aircraft though was dirty, no soap in the Lavatories, no Inflight entertainment and boarding and disembarking procedures a shambles. The fun started on the Return. We arrived in Luanda on time at 6am and then noticed that our 10:20 departure for Johannesburg had been delayed until 19:30 that night. The Staff were utterly useless and unhelpful. We tried to ask to be put into the Cape Town Flight at 9am and buy our own tickets to JNB from CPT, they had our passports and boarding passes for 2 hours to organise this and still couldn’t get it done. They stated the flight was full which was a lie, there was roughly a 150pax boarding a Boeing 777. Anyway then it took them 3 hours to arrange a Hotel for guests and some got sick from sun standard food and got put up In horrific conditions. The new departure time of 19:30 then came and went and we finally left at 21:00. There was no offer of any help on arrival in JNB after midnight with connecting flights and hotel accommodation etc, it was everyone to themselves! The next day I again flew out of JNB on another Airline and noticed that TAAG again landed after midnight. I would highly recommend not flying them, it’s evident that they can’t keep to a schedule and have no inclination to help. The only flight which seems to be on time is their Lisbon service as this appears to carry people of importance.

✅ Trip Verified | I read some bad reviews and thought that it cannot possibly be that bad. But believe me, it is really a nightmare! The flight from Cape Town to Luanda was without any major hiccups except for a very old / rather dirty plane. Our flight from Luanda to Sao Paulo was delayed by 2 hours due to technical problems. When we boarded, the air conditioner on the plane didn’t work and the heat was unbearable. Our take-off was delayed due to numerous passengers having incorrect seats and staff being rude and shouting at them to sit down. Due to the heat, some families with small children or babies were threatening to leave the plane. The pilot must have been told to take off, as the plane started taxiing with people still walking around and overhead bins still open. The flight attendants strapped in and the passengers had to hastily close the bins. The safety demonstration was only given about half hour after take-off! Our return flight was where the real issues began. We were scheduled to fly from Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo 12:50 and land at 15:40. Our TAAG flight was then scheduled for 18:15 to Luanda where we would catch our connecting flight to Cape Town. The day before, I received an email informing me that the flight time had changed to 9:00. This was 9 hour earlier than the booked time and 6 hours before our flight from Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo landed! I tried on numerous occasions to reschedule our flight via the TAAG contact number in Angola, WhatsApp number and the call centre in Sao Paulo. I really struggled to get them to understand that it would be impossible for us to make this flight. I was assured that we would rebooked the next day and that TAAG would pay for us to stay a night in Sao Paulo as it was their problem. However, I never received confirmation. Whenever I contacted them, I was either assured that the problem was being addressed or told that they have no knowledge of the problem and could not find our original tickets! They would repeatedly drop conversations and we needed to start all over again with a new TAAG representative who had no context of the situation - no continuity or accountability! Whenever a new representative checked the system, there would be no evidence of the previous conversations. We were advised to go to the TAAG office in Sao Paulo airport. Although the sign on the door said it closes at 19:30, the office was locked and no-one was there. I tried calling the number on numerous occasions and got a recording in Portuguese telling me to leave a message – which I did and never received a reply. When I mentioned this on the WhatsApp line, I was told to “come back tomorrow” even though we had nowhere to stay. At this stage I realised that we were stranded in Sao Paulo and I managed to find an airport hotel for us to stay for the night. We continued to try and contact TAAG but it was clear that they were talking in circles and refusing to answer our questions. Despite asking for reference numbers when I called, I was never given one. When we received a message saying that they would not re-issue tickets for “people who missed their check-in”, I realised that their promises would not materialise and that we were stranded in Sao Paulo. I had to purchase tickets on another airline at great expense to get us home. It is now 3 days later and I have still not heard anything from TAAG! A rescheduled ticket was never sent and there was no follow-up of the situation!

✅ Trip Verified | Do not under any circumstances fly this airline. I have wasted close to a hundred hours of my time to no avail, having submitted all requested documentation, after 5 months, still nothing. You may think you're saving money. You're not. They will cancel or delay their flights at the drop of a hat and you'll be left in the dark. I am an African tourism stakeholder and can assure TAAG that their reputation is rapidly deteriorating and will soon be at the point of no return.

Not Verified | I just completed a roundtrip from Cape Town to Lagos and back and it was one of the most painful experiences I have ever had travelling. We suffered 1 delay after the next with absolutely no communication from airline personnel even the boards at the airports did not update with latest information. A trip that was supposed to take me 9 hours took me almost 48 hours. At one point it felt as though I would never get home. I honestly would never fly this airline and truly regret not looking at reviews before I bought the tickets. I bought them to reduce layover times but this ended up being a much worse situation.

✅ Trip Verified | It may look like you're saving money flying with TAAG but in our experience you end up losing time and money while having the most harrowing experience of your life! I have no doubt they have a few flights with minimal drama but after flying a combined 4 flights with them and being in Angola twice, this was our overall takeaway. The planes are really old. In the worst plane we flew in metal parts were hanging off the seats, they didn't recline at all, the bathroom doors didn't close all the way or lock and only one toilet worked. Other planes we flew in were slightly better but they all were a little worrying and worst-case scenario, really uncomfortable for a long flight with kids. In multiple flights there wasn't air conditioning and we were hot the whole flight. -The staff attention and care just wasn't there. On two long flights we were given a small bread roll and a bruised apple for dinner. There was no toilet paper in one flight and no soap in 3 out of 4 flights. When our kids started vomiting from the turbulence there were no sick bags. No flight attendant spoke any English. - The experience in Angola is rough. The card machines were so old that none of them worked for international cards and we were struggling to buy any food or water (especially difficult considering we weren't fed more than a bread roll and apple in both international flights). No one spoke English and there was no help desk. They overbooked our flight in addition to having 60 people trapped in the airport for 3 days due to cancelled flights. People were panicked to get out of Angola. They kicked our family of 6 with multiple small children off our flight and reluctantly gave us tickets on a later flight to a different city when we continued to ask them to resolve the situation. In fact, they just handed us boarding passes which we accepted and only 5 minutes later did we realize it was to a different city than we were going. We came back to tell them this wasn't where we were going and they just shrugged. They didn't tell us the plan to get us to our final destination, didn't explain what would happen to our luggage, and at one point they just disappeared with our tickets for half an hour without explaining why. Again, no one spoke more than a few words of English and this was very scary and frustrating. The airport is not air conditioned and the bathrooms were terrible. Traveling with sick, exhausted, small children, it felt like a nightmare. Finally, when trying to get on the plane, they left us in a overpacked hot bus for 45 minutes until people started shouting for them to open the doors as there were kids feeling like they were going to pass out. No one really cares and if you don't self-advocate, you will likely end up stranded in Angola. If not for another airline in another country taking pity on us after hearing our story, I don't know how we would have gotten home. TAAG certainly didn't ensure we arrived home and seems to have no concern making sure it happens on the dates booked. If you have time for a multiple-day harrowing adventure filled with uncertainty and likely the costs of unexpected accommodation, new flights, and food where you can find it, go for it. Otherwise, save yourself the trouble. Taag has no guarantee they they will fly you where you're going. Pay slightly more for a reliable airline with basic service. This is just too dicey and entirely too exhausting.

✅ Trip Verified | I had the worst experience with TAAG. Our flight was delayed by 10 hours. There was no information given to us. We were forced to stay there without food or water for hours! We lost our bookings to travel further when we arrived at Johannesburg. They are very rude. Damage to bag and very bad attitude received from their staff.

✅ Trip Verified | I had been warned against flying TAAG a few times by a diverse range of people back home in South Africa, however, since there was an evening flight to Luanda and I had to be there for work, I thought how bad could it possibly be? Its a 3 hour flight. How awfully wrong could I be? That too, awfully wrong while sitting in the WORST business class seat I have probably ever witnessed. We started off this journey with a 2 and a half hour delay on the ground followed by a one hour delay while sitting in the aircraft, by the time we left Johannesburg, we had accepted our fate & knew that we would only be seeing Luanda around midnight; no explanation provided by the crew other than the brief message that we have to take on more fuel? We got off the ground & the business class service commenced; and this is where all hell breaks loose - 12 passengers in business class and they cater one bottle of Sparkling Wine, one bottle of Red Wine and one bottle of white wine with no ice available - they blaze through the food service & hand out a tray with fruit that stinks of expiry, a sandwich with watery lettuce & a packet of cashews - that's your business class. No refills, very little understanding of customer service & absolutely no interest in representing the business class product. The business class seat had aged and had crease marks all over the pleather cover with the recline function being limited to 3' - the actual recline must have been around 6', however, the seat has aged over time and it is most certainly broken. On top of that, there is no IFE onboard this 737-700 and you cannot keep your iPad on the tray because the tray is broken. The cabin crew consisted of two flight attendants dedicated to business class; neither of them could possibly care about anything - they drew the curtain after the meal service, heated up their meals & chilled for an hour & 45mins before top of descent - zero interest. We land in Luanda, eventually get to the customs & immigration hall 4 hours and 15 mins after our scheduled landing time - again, the crew say nothing - they are just like cheers, happens here all the time. This is by far the worst airline I have ever come across and I will never fly with them again - I can't help but feel sorry for those who have to fly this shambolic airline to Lisbon, Sao Paulo, Madrid, Porto etc. - utter garbage honestly.

✅ Trip Verified | The seats are filthy dirty, many are broken. The inflight entertainment system did not work, I saw no safety demonstration given on board. The overhead luggage compartment opened during the flight. The food was shocking. The air hostesses were rude and unfriendly to me and the USB ports don't work either. Transiting in Luanda is a challenge on it's own. It takes hours, staff are incompetent. It may look like a cheap option and at this point the fastest way to get to Brazil as there are no direct flights but believe me rather pay the additional cost than subject yourselves to TAAG.

✅ Trip Verified | I booked a ticket from South Africa going to the UK and I was supposed to travel on the 31 August 2023 from OR Tambo but the flight was canceled without any prior notice or communication. I was left stranded even till now still in Transit. I was told to book another airline and I will be reimbursed but I do not have money. I requested a refund but they were not able to refund me. They failed to put me on the next available TAAG flights because they couldn't afford to put me on the business class. Please I can't stay any more nights at the transit. I have spent 3 nights already.

✅ Trip Verified | Difficult to believe this awful airline is a government flagman airline of the country. Totally awful approach, they let they security mistreat their passenger. They stop passengers and create problems with documents where they do not exists. In my case they found an issue with my valid passport - in the beginning was too clear that they searching a ground to get money from me (not only from me, some people were also mistreated by the same way). By the end of the day they have torn my passport and stated I have done by my own. They just constantly say wait without an explanation what is wrong. Unfortunately I couldn't see their onboard service because they did not even let me approach to a check-in counter.