D4-CCG – Cabo Verde Airlines Boeing 757: From Iceland to the Islands
One aircraft.
More than three decades of aviation.
Iceland.
Germany.
France.
Papua New Guinea.
Venezuela.
Cabo Verde.
And two names that could hardly be more different.
Eyjafjallajökull.
Baía de Tarrafal.
D4-CCG was a Boeing 757-200 that spent its life travelling between airlines, countries and continents.
But its story began long before the registration D4-CCG ever appeared on its fuselage.
The aircraft was delivered new to Icelandair in 1990 as TF-FII.
During the decades that followed, it would fly for several airlines around the world.
British Midland.
Air Méditerranée.
Air Niugini.
SBA Airlines.
And finally Cabo Verde Airlines.
It survived long enough to experience enormous changes in commercial aviation.
And when its flying career finally ended after more than 30 years, part of its genuine fuselage skin was preserved by Aircrafttag.
Born as TF-FII
The aircraft was built as a Boeing 757-208.
Its manufacturer serial number was MSN 24760.
Boeing production line number 281.
Power came from two Rolls-Royce RB211-535E4 engines.
In May 1990, the brand-new aircraft was delivered to Icelandair.
Its registration became:
TF-FII.
The Boeing 757 was ideally suited to Icelandair's unusual geographical position.
Iceland lies between Europe and North America.
That allowed the airline to use Reykjavík and later Keflavík as a connecting point between the two continents.
The 757 combined narrow-body economics with impressive range and performance.
For Icelandair, it would become one of the most important aircraft types in the company's history.
And TF-FII became part of that story.
The Boeing 757
When Boeing developed the 757, it created an aircraft with a combination of characteristics that proved difficult to replace.
Powerful engines.
Excellent runway performance.
Long range for a narrow-body aircraft.
And enough capacity for medium- and longer-range routes.
The 757 became particularly successful on transatlantic services.
For Icelandair, those characteristics were almost perfect.
The airline could connect relatively small European and North American markets through Iceland without requiring a wide-body aircraft.
TF-FII would spend much of its life connected with this concept.
But Icelandair also used its aircraft flexibly.
And that meant TF-FII did not remain exclusively in Icelandair colours.
Around the World
Over the years, TF-FII was leased to several other airlines.
Among them was British Midland in the United Kingdom.
It also flew for French carrier Air Méditerranée.
Another assignment took the aircraft much farther from Iceland.
Air Niugini.
Papua New Guinea's national airline.
The same Boeing that crossed the North Atlantic now operated in the Pacific region.
Later, it also spent time with SBA Airlines of Venezuela.
These leases demonstrate one of the advantages of the Boeing 757.
It could perform very different missions for very different airlines.
European charter flying.
Transatlantic operations.
Pacific services.
Long routes in the Americas.
Yet throughout these chapters, the aircraft remained fundamentally connected with Icelandair.
TF-FII.
Eyjafjallajökull
Then the aircraft received a name that became famous around the world.
Eyjafjallajökull.
The Icelandic volcano had always been known in Iceland.
But in April 2010, it became international news.
An eruption beneath the glacier sent volcanic ash high into the atmosphere.
The ash cloud spread across Europe.
Because volcanic ash can pose a serious threat to aircraft engines, huge areas of European airspace were closed.
Flights were cancelled on an extraordinary scale.
Millions of passengers were affected.
For several days, European aviation was thrown into chaos.
And one Icelandair Boeing 757 carried the volcano's name.
TF-FII.
Eyjafjallajökull.
For aviation enthusiasts, the combination was unforgettable.
A New Chapter Approaches
By the middle of the 2010s, TF-FII was already an ageing aircraft.
It had been flying since 1990.
But the Boeing 757's durability meant that many examples continued operating long after reaching ages at which other aircraft had already disappeared.
And MSN 24760 still had another major chapter ahead.
This time, the aircraft would move far south.
From Iceland to an island nation off the coast of West Africa.
Cabo Verde.
TACV Cabo Verde Airlines
The aviation history of Cabo Verde is inseparable from the geography of the country.
Cabo Verde consists of an Atlantic archipelago hundreds of kilometres west of the African mainland.
Air transport is therefore particularly important.
TACV – Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde – was founded in 1958.
Initially, the airline focused on connections between the islands.
As its capabilities grew, international routes followed.
Portugal became an obvious and important market.
But Cabo Verde's geographical position also offered opportunities farther afield.
West Africa.
Europe.
North America.
Brazil.
For decades, TACV served as the country's national airline and an essential connection with the outside world.
TF-FII Goes to Cabo Verde
In 2017, the former Icelandair aircraft began operating for TACV Cabo Verde Airlines.
This was initially part of a leasing arrangement.
For an aircraft already approaching three decades of age, it was the beginning of a remarkable final commercial chapter.
The Boeing 757's range was particularly useful for Cabo Verde.
From the islands, the aircraft could connect destinations on both sides of the Atlantic.
Europe to the north.
Brazil and other South American markets across the ocean.
North America.
And African destinations.
The geography that had made the 757 so useful to Icelandair now made it attractive in Cabo Verde for a different reason.
From TF-FII to D4-CCG
The aircraft's connection with Cabo Verde became permanent.
In March 2019, MSN 24760 was transferred onto the Cabo Verde aircraft register.
TF-FII disappeared.
Its new registration was:
D4-CCG.
After almost 29 years carrying an Icelandic registration, the Boeing now officially belonged to another island nation's aviation story.
The change coincided with a much broader transformation of the airline.
Cabo Verde Airlines
TACV was undergoing major restructuring.
The airline adopted the Cabo Verde Airlines identity and attempted to reposition itself around an international hub strategy.
Sal Island would become central to that plan.
The idea had similarities with a model already familiar in Iceland.
Use the geographical position of an island nation to connect continents.
Europe.
Africa.
North America.
South America.
In March 2019, Loftleidir Cabo Verde acquired 51 percent of Cabo Verde Airlines from the state.
Loftleidir Icelandic held 70 percent of that investment vehicle, with other Icelandic investors holding the remaining 30 percent.
The government of Cabo Verde retained 49 percent of the airline.
The connection with Iceland was therefore much deeper than simply acquiring former Icelandair aircraft.
And D4-CCG became one of the most visible symbols of this new era.
Baía de Tarrafal
The new identity also brought a new name.
Eyjafjallajökull belonged to the aircraft's Icelandic chapter.
Cabo Verde gave it a name connected with its new home.
Baía de Tarrafal.
Tarrafal is located on the island of Santiago.
Its bay, mountains and coastline create one of Cabo Verde's distinctive landscapes.
The transformation was complete.
TF-FII.
Eyjafjallajökull.
Had become:
D4-CCG.
Baía de Tarrafal.
A Boeing 757 that had once represented Iceland was now carrying the identity of Cabo Verde.
The Colours of Santiago
Cabo Verde Airlines introduced a particularly distinctive visual concept for its aircraft.
Different aircraft received colour schemes inspired by individual islands of the archipelago.
D4-CCG represented Santiago.
The aircraft's appearance therefore did more than simply advertise the airline.
It connected the Boeing with one of Cabo Verde's individual islands.
For an aircraft that had already accumulated almost three decades of history, the new livery created another unmistakable identity.
D4-CCG became one of the most recognizable aircraft in the Cabo Verde Airlines fleet.
Connecting Continents
The airline's strategy centred increasingly on Sal.
Amílcar Cabral International Airport was positioned as a connecting hub.
Cabo Verde's location offered an interesting geographical opportunity.
Europe lay to the northeast.
West Africa to the east.
Brazil to the southwest.
North America to the northwest.
And the Boeing 757 could reach destinations across these regions.
Cabo Verde Airlines expanded toward cities including Lisbon, Paris, Rome, Lagos, Boston and destinations in Brazil.
The 757 became central to this international strategy.
D4-CCG had once helped Icelandair connect Europe and North America through Iceland.
Now it was participating in another island-based hub strategy thousands of kilometres farther south.
From Iceland to Cabo Verde
There is an unusual symmetry in the aircraft's career.
Iceland and Cabo Verde could hardly look more different.
One is a North Atlantic island famous for glaciers, volcanoes and long winters.
The other is a tropical Atlantic archipelago off West Africa.
Yet both countries face similar aviation realities.
Small domestic populations.
Geographical isolation.
Dependence on international connectivity.
And locations between major continental markets.
The Boeing 757 worked remarkably well in both environments.
For MSN 24760, that meant its first and final major airline chapters were connected by more than just the aircraft itself.
They were connected by a similar aviation concept.
2020
Then everything stopped.
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought international aviation to an unprecedented standstill.
Borders closed.
Demand collapsed.
Aircraft were grounded.
Cabo Verde was particularly exposed.
An airline strategy built around international connections could not function when international travel had effectively stopped.
Cabo Verde Airlines suspended operations.
D4-CCG was grounded.
The Boeing that had spent thirty years crossing borders suddenly had nowhere to go.
The pandemic would fundamentally change the future of both the airline and the aircraft.
The Privatization Is Reversed
The old Aircrafttag story described Icelandair as having held a majority stake in Cabo Verde Airlines since 2018.
The reality was more complex.
The privatization was completed in March 2019, when Loftleidir Cabo Verde acquired 51 percent of the airline.
Loftleidir Icelandic – part of Icelandair Group – owned 70 percent of that investment company.
The pandemic then severely disrupted the restructuring plan.
In 2021, the government of Cabo Verde decided to reverse the 51-percent privatization and regain control of the airline.
D4-CCG therefore lived through not only a rebranding but a dramatic period in the corporate history of Cabo Verde's national carrier.
One Last Return
D4-CCG did not immediately disappear when Cabo Verde Airlines suspended operations.
The aircraft remained associated with the airline through the crisis.
But by now MSN 24760 was more than thirty years old.
The aviation industry emerging from the pandemic was increasingly focused on newer and more efficient aircraft.
The prospects for an ageing Boeing 757 were limited.
The aircraft's long commercial life was approaching its end.
TF-CCG
There was one final registration change.
Late in 2022, D4-CCG left the Cabo Verde register.
Its last identity brought the aircraft back to where the story had begun.
Iceland.
The Boeing became:
TF-CCG.
It was associated with Loftleidir Icelandic.
More than three decades after being delivered as Icelandair TF-FII, MSN 24760 once again carried an Icelandic registration.
But there would be no new passenger career.
This was the beginning of the final journey.
The Final Flight to Lleida
On 18 December 2022, the aircraft was transferred to Lleida-Alguaire Airport in Spain.
Lleida has become a familiar destination for retired commercial aircraft.
Some are stored.
Some are maintained.
Some return to service.
Others are dismantled.
For TF-CCG – the former D4-CCG and TF-FII – there would be no return.
The aircraft that had spent more than three decades flying around the world had reached its final destination.
More Than 32 Years
By the time MSN 24760 reached Lleida, approximately 32 years had passed since its delivery to Icelandair.
That is an extraordinary operational life for a commercial airliner.
The aircraft had experienced the 1990s.
The rise of low-cost aviation.
The transformation of transatlantic travel.
The Eyjafjallajökull eruption.
The restructuring of Cabo Verde Airlines.
And finally the COVID-19 crisis.
It had operated for airlines on several continents.
And it had carried three particularly important identities.
TF-FII.
D4-CCG.
TF-CCG.
But the aircraft would always be especially connected with two island nations.
Iceland.
And Cabo Verde.
From D4-CCG to Aircrafttag
At Lleida, the complete aircraft reached the end of its journey.
But part of its genuine fuselage skin was preserved by Aircrafttag.
This material comes from the actual Boeing 757 that spent decades travelling around the world.
The surface experienced more than thirty years of airline operations.
North Atlantic winters.
Tropical heat.
European airports.
African airports.
Flights across the Atlantic.
Thousands of departures and arrivals.
Original paint, scratches, marks, dents and colour variations can remain visible.
They belong to the aircraft's history.
For some pieces, the preserved material also carries colours associated with the distinctive Cabo Verde chapter.
This is not material made to resemble D4-CCG.
It comes from D4-CCG.
Boeing 757-208.
MSN 24760.
TF-FII. D4-CCG. TF-CCG.
Three registrations tell the story.
TF-FII represents Icelandair.
Iceland.
Eyjafjallajökull.
And more than two decades connected with one of the world's most distinctive 757 operators.
D4-CCG represents Cabo Verde.
Baía de Tarrafal.
Santiago.
And an ambitious attempt to connect four continents through an Atlantic island hub.
TF-CCG represents the final chapter.
A return to an Icelandic registration.
And the journey to Lleida.
Three identities.
One Boeing 757.
Eyjafjallajökull to Baía de Tarrafal
Perhaps the best way to understand MSN 24760 is through its two names.
Eyjafjallajökull.
A glacier-covered volcano in Iceland.
Baía de Tarrafal.
A tropical bay on Santiago in Cabo Verde.
From a North Atlantic volcano to a West African beach.
Few aircraft names could better illustrate the distance travelled during a single airframe's career.
D4-CCG was more than a Cabo Verde Airlines aircraft.
And TF-FII was more than an Icelandair aircraft.
Together, they tell the story of a Boeing 757 that spent more than three decades connecting countries, cultures and continents.
The complete aircraft no longer flies.
But part of MSN 24760 survives.
Preserved by Aircrafttag, genuine fuselage skin from D4-CCG provides a physical connection to Cabo Verde Airlines, Icelandair and more than 30 years of Boeing 757 history.
