ATR has delivered a new ATR 72-600 to Singapore-based lessor Avation for CVsky, which operates under the Linhas Aéreas de Cabo Verde (LACV) brand. It is the first of two ATR 72-600s that will join the airline’s fleet under a lease agreement with Avation, and it will operate alongside the two ATRs already in service on domestic flights across the archipelago.
CVsky is based in Praia, on the island of Santiago, and was founded in 2024. It began operating in 2025 under an ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance) model, leasing both aircraft and operational services, before launching its own operations in the IATA Summer 2026 season.
The airline’s goals include better links to Praia from islands such as São Vicente and São Nicolau, and improved service to destinations that commercial aviation has historically served less. A Sal–Fogo route is planned. On the Praia–Sal route, a sea crossing can take up to about seven hours, while an ATR flight covers the same distance in about 40 minutes, and the average flight in Cabo Verde’s domestic network lasts 36 minutes.
The ATR 72-600 can take off and land on short runways, including those at Maio (1,200 m), São Nicolau (1,400 m) and Fogo (1,500 m). ATR aircraft have flown in Cabo Verde for more than three decades, since the first ATR 42-320 arrived in November 1994.
The additional aircraft are intended to allow more frequent flights, new routes, more convenient schedules and improved connections between the islands.
