TAAG Angola Airlines marks African Women’s Day with historic all-female crew flight

August 4, 2025 in Companies, Travel & Tourism by Editor

TAAG Angola Airlines marked this year’s International African Women’s Day with a special roundtrip flight between Luanda and Johannesburg crewed entirely by women. Celebrated as a milestone in the regional drive for gender inclusion and representation in civil aviation, the commemorative flight, which took place on July 27, was staffed by 13 female aviation professionals.

The initiative was designed to both honour and inspire African women by demonstrating their capacity to thrive in highly technical and traditionally male-dominated sectors. It also aligns with the carrier’s broader commitment to promoting diversity, meritocracy, and equal opportunity in the workplace.

“This 100pc female-crewed flight is a powerful statement of what women can achieve when given equal opportunity,” said TAAG in a statement. “It’s a celebration of the competence, professionalism, and resilience of African women.”

Of TAAG’s 2,600 employees, women currently make up 31pc, and the airline is actively working to raise that number. At the highest levels of leadership, women hold 50pc of the Executive Committee positions, overseeing critical functions such as finance, legal, human resources, and procurement.

Although it took place four days earlier, the flight was designed to coincide with International African Women’s Day (IAWD), commemorated annually on July 31. While not as globally recognised as International Women’s Day in March, IAWD carries significant historical weight on the continent.

The date commemorates a landmark 1962 meeting in Dar es Salaam where African women from across the continent convened to establish the Pan-African Women’s Organisation. That milestone laid the groundwork for decades of advocacy and legal frameworks designed to secure and advance women’s rights in Africa — including the Maputo Protocol and the African Union’s Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality.

Though progress has been made, African women continue to face systemic barriers rooted in entrenched socio-cultural norms and insufficient representation in political leadership and policymaking. Events such as TAAG’s all-female crew flight serve as a public reminder of the untapped potential within African societies and the need to further dismantle structural inequalities.