SATA CEO Paulo Menezes said the inaugural flight to Praia was quite full and would use a 165-seat Airbus A.

The airline will operate two flights a week in summer and one in winter.

Sata now flies to Madeira the Canaries and Cape Verde. It will, however, face stiff competition on the route to Cape Verde as Canaries airline, Binter, now flies between the Canaries and Cape Verde and has a monopoly on all domestic flights in the West African country.