Cabo Verde Airlines (VR, Sal Amilcar Cabral International) is negotiating two new wet-lease contracts with undisclosed operators and for undisclosed types. This follows the grounding of the two aircraft it currently wet-leases on August 31, 2025, as a result of two unrelated incidents, which disrupted the company’s scheduled services and added to its already severe operational woes.

Flights VR4501, operated with LY-JUP (msn 747), an ATR72-500 wet-leased from Jump Air, and VR4204, operated with a DHC-8-Q300 wet-leased from CemAir (5Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), ZS-DHA (msn 571), were involved in separate undisclosed incidents at Praia. Cabo Verde Airlines assured that all passengers were disembarked at Praia “within safety regulations”.

Both aircraft were grounded and the carrier has set up a team to investigate both incidents, it said in a social media update. Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows they have not flown since August 31.

It is the third time in one month that Cabo Verde Airlines’ operations have been disrupted due to operational issues and fleet limitations, despite the carrier’s efforts to add extra capacity.

On September 1, the state-owned airline announced further temporary restrictions to its domestic schedule due to technical limitations at several airports that cannot handle its in-house fleet of one B737-700 and one B737-8. The impacted routes are Praia-São Vicente, Praia-Sal, and Praia-São Filipe.