Post updated here
Many things have changed in recent years, and inter-island flights in Cape Verde have been no exception.
Surely you have tried to look for information on how to fly between islands and have found little; but we are here to tell you about it.
We have waited to write this post as the information was somewhat confusing and constantly changing. Without further ado; let’s get to it.
The former inter-island flight operations in Cape Verde changed last July 2021 in the middle of the pandemic, but not due to it.
It all started in November 2016, when the renowned Canary Islands airline Binter, through its subsidiary Binter Cabo Verde, took over the service of inter-island flights in the archipelago. Over time, the company provided a very good service and became fully integrated in Cape Verde. It is estimated that, in 2019, the company moved around one million passengers between the different islands of Cape Verde.
"Until it sold its operations to the BestFly company and the Government of Cape Verde."
With the intention of unifying transportation and integrating them at the state level, the government put pressure on Binter Cabo Verde and it became Transportes Interilhas de Cabo Verde (TICV) in 2019. From this point on, the company distanced itself from its Canary Island parent until it sold its operations to BestFly and the Government of Cape Verde.
Set the scene to July 2021: the second year of the pandemic and with tourism in the archipelago totally depleted. Best Fly, a company from Angola, also a former Portuguese colony, takes the reins of inter-island flights. The new and modern company, with great solvency and complying with European certifications and standards, begins to work maintaining the employment of the old agreement. It is at this moment that the pandemic becomes a serious problem, but at the same time an opportunity. A handicap undoubtedly due to the lack of passengers, but a small advantage to be able to progressively increase flight frequency.
Bestfly Crew – Inter-island flights in Cape Verde
So how does the new inter-island flight operation work in the archipelago?
Although Best Fly is catching up and the booking operation is getting better and better, it is far from the previous one. Currently, at the time of writing this article, reservations are restricted to local travel agencies. For this reason, it is very difficult to find and book tickets on a personal basis.
At Oi Cabo Verde we manage internal flights but reserved only for our travelers. We do not manage internal flights that are not part of our designed trips.
In addition, there are other drawbacks such as the elimination of some regular flights, such as SAL <> BOAVISTA or SAL <> SAO NICOLAU (hopefully temporarily) or the publication of the definitive schedules. Currently Best Fly only publishes their schedules 2 months in advance, which complicates the design of the trip a lot. This is especially complicated when we are looking to fly to islands with infrequent weekly flights, as the days of the flights can change and this directly affects the planning of a trip, including inter-island flights in Cape Verde.
Desert islands, a lesson from history
Map of current inter-island routes
At the time of writing, the route map and frequency of inter-island flights in Cape Verde is as follows:
- PRAIA <> MINDELO On a daily basis
- PRAIA <> SAL A diario
- PRAIA <> FOGO 6 days per week
- PRAIA <> SAO NICOLAU 3 days per week
- PRAIA <> MAIO 2 days per week
- PRAIA <> BOA VISTA 2 days per week
As we have already mentioned, the reservation system is still a long way from the 2019 scenario, and although the company and government are getting their act together, the level of uncertainty remains somewhat high.
For this reason, in order to travel with total guarantee and to have a backup in case of possible flight changes, we remind you of the importance of traveling with a specialized agency such as Oi Cabo Verde.
We will keep you informed about the latest news, but this is the situation of inter-island flights in Cape Verde at the moment.
We manage internal flights only for our travelers.
For reasons of service quality, we do not manage the service of internal flights for people outside our trips. There are many people who choose to design their own trips in the archipelago, which we respect and share. However, when you decide to travel independently, you do not have a professional support that provides a guarantee to the trip, from trip design to 24h support in the islands.
At the moment, inter-island flights in Cape Verde can only be purchased with a local payment card, so it is not possible to purchase them independently. So we recommend to take this situation into account before booking all services independently, as we cannot provide this service from Oi Cabo Verde. Thank you for your understanding.
