Delta Air Lines Inc. in January will offer a flight from Atlanta to Dakar, Senegal and Luanda, Angola.
The flight will operate three times a week, making a stop in Dakar before going on to Luanda. Delta currently flies to Dakar from New York, but Angola is a new market for the airline, its eighth in Africa.
Senegal last year moved its U.S. tourism office from New York to Atlanta. Its director, Aziz Gueye, was disappointed to learn upon arriving here that Delta had suspended its Atlanta-Dakar flight.
He welcomed the news that the airline is reinstating the service.
"We can do nothing but give our applause to the person who made the decision," he said. "This is good news."
Atlantan Randy Pires, a business consultant in Angola, said the new flight will make his life much easier.
"It will save time and money," said Mr. Pires who now changes planes in Europe or Brazil to get to Atlanta.
Angola is one of Africa's fastest growing business travel destinations, Atlanta-based Delta said in a news release.
Angola experienced 27 years of civil war after gaining independence from Portugal in 1975. The country of 12.8 million people is peaceful now and its economy is rapidly growing because of oil and natural gas reserves, the infrastructure is still primitive by modern standards.
This year alone, Delta has launched flights from Atlanta to Accra, Ghana and Monrovia, Liberia. It also flies to Cairo, Egypt and two cities in Nigeria.
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