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The story behind the flight from the US that's always full of Cape Verdeans
🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

The story behind the flight from the US that's always full of Cape Verdeans

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • A weekly flight from Rhode Island, USA, to Cape Verde, an island nation off the coast of West Africa, has a unique history rooted in 18th and 19th-century whaling.
  • Historically, Cape Verde served as a strategic stop for New England whaling ships, leading many Cape Verdeans to migrate to the US, forming significant communities.
  • This long-standing migration pattern explains the continued direct flight, which primarily serves Cape Verdean diaspora visiting family in the US or vice versa.

Rhode Island's smallest airport in Providence offers a single international connection, but it doesn't fly to Europe, the Caribbean, or Canada. Instead, the route crosses the Atlantic for over 4,800 kilometers to Cape Verde, an island nation off the western coast of Africa that recently gained global attention for its World Cup qualification.

The flight, operated weekly by national carrier Cabo Verde Airlines, was documented by British travel and aviation content creator Noel Philips. He took the flight to understand why a US airport had a direct route to a small African nation. Philips observed that the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft was nearly full, with most passengers being Cape Verdeans visiting family in the United States or US residents traveling to reunite with relatives in Cape Verde.

The explanation for this seemingly unusual route lies not in recent tourism campaigns but in historical economic ties. During the 18th and 19th centuries, New England's whaling industry was a major economic driver. Ships from Rhode Island and Massachusetts frequently sailed the Atlantic for months or even years. Cape Verde's islands were strategically located along the maritime routes connecting Europe, Africa, and America, making them a crucial stopover point.

A pesar de estar acá, el dolor es el mismo. Toda mi familia está en Venezuela y lo estoy viviendo desde muy cerca.

— Deyna CastellanosThe Venezuelan football star described the emotional difficulty of playing while her family and country are impacted by recent earthquakes.

As ships docked in Cape Verde, many islanders joined the crews. Over time, thousands migrated across the ocean to New England, settling in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. They established families and built communities, maintaining generational ties to their islands of origin. This historical migration flow is the reason why, more than two centuries later, a Boeing 737 continues to link these same points across the Atlantic weekly.

Philips' flight departed about four hours late, landing in Praia, the Cape Verdean capital, around 5 a.m. local time. The archipelago, composed of ten volcanic islands, lies just over 560 kilometers off the African coast. For centuries, its location made it a vital transit point for ships navigating between continents, profoundly shaping the islands' history.

Literalmente estamos a un juego de conseguir ese sueño. Depende de nosotras ejecutar el plan y ser nosotras mismas.

— Deyna CastellanosCastellanos expressed confidence in her team's ability to qualify for the World Cup.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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