Praia, Sept. 23, 2024 (Lusa) - Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde (TACV), the West African archipelago's flag carrier, has received 127 applications in its drive to recruit pilots to fly the ATR aircraft that have been leased for the new state-owned inter-island airline unveiled earlier this month, it announced on Monday in a statement. 

Most of the applications are from abroad, with several from Portugal; only 23 are Cabo Verde nationals.

Men are also in the majority, with only seven women among the candidates, from Portugal, Greece, Brazil, Botswana and Cabo Verde.

The diversity of origins, with more than 30 countries among the candidates, is a sign of the company's "prestige" for TACV, it said in the same release.

Earlier this month, Cabo Verde's government published in the state gazette a notice on the creation of a new company for domestic flights only, a segment in which there have been chronic problems with delays, cancellations and a shortage of planes.

At the beginning of the year, TACV, the state-owned company that previously served only international destinations, had to lease smaller planes - from France's ATR - to save the inter-island connections, after the last attempt to award a concession, to Angola's Bestfly, ended unsuccessfully.

The government on 7 September announced the establishment of Linhas Aéreas de Cabo Verde, a new state-owned airline dedicated to inter-island flights, to address ongoing operational issues and high costs.

LFO/ARO // ARO.

Lusa