Originally Posted by
hauteboy
Neat! I've always wondered about this flight. Is it open to anyone, or do you have to work for a petroleum co? With the $4k Y seat though, it would be cheaper to go via Europe or South Africa.
Passengers on Houston Express have to be sponsored by one of the joint venture companies. It is essentially a closed charter.
Via Europe is not cheaper, and takes longer. Angola right now is bottlenecked in terms of airline capacity and hotel space in Luanda.
I've made the trip via Lisbon-Newark-IAH. Very long stopovers, and not fun. LAD-IAH is a straight shot on Houton Express. Depending on the season, we will fly southerly or northerly routes to take advantage of the tailwinds. The flight is usually 14 hours, but we have made it in as little as 12.