Mozambique Airlines (LAM) will start flying from Maputo to Cape Town, South Africa, from 12 December, with three flights a week, the company announced last week.
The airline had originally planned the first flight on this route for 22 November but has now announced that the first flight will take place on 12 December, the day on which it will also resume, after three years, the route between Maputo and Lisbon, also with three flights a week.
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LAM’s flight network currently covers 12 domestic destinations, as well as Johannesburg, Dar es Salaam, Harare and Lusaka, operating more than 40 flights a day using one Boeing 737, three Bombardier Q400s, two Bombardier CRJ 900s and two Embraer 145s operated by subsidiary MEX – Moçambique Expresso.
The Mozambican company says that the direct flights to and from Cape Town also have connections from Maputo to the main tourist destinations in Mozambique.
The Cape Town and Lisbon destinations are part of the operator’s revitalisation plan, after the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA) took over management of LAM in April this year.
LAM intends to double its fleet of aircraft to at least 22 by 2027, the operations director of the Mozambican flag carrier told Lusa on 29 September.
“Over the next few years, the influx of aircraft is going to be massive,” said Hilário Tembe in Inhambane on the sidelines of the ceremony marking the resumption of the direct link between the city of Inhambane and Johannesburg, in neighbouring South Africa.
He added that LAM will lease three aircraft this year to respond to the resumption of connections with neighbouring countries and the introduction of new routes.
“By the end of 2027, we plan to have 10 more aircraft,” said Tembe.
The executive director of the South African company appointed to manage LAM said on 9 September that the company had already negotiated the lease of a Boeing 737 freighter, just to handle cargo transport within the country and abroad, namely to South Africa, with the hope of putting a second one into service six months later.
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“It’s an opportunity that could make the company profitable. Cargo transport is a very profitable business,” insisted Theunis Crous, CEO of FMA.
Theunis Crous also said that the FMA has already mobilised 15 million dollars (14 million euros) in funding for LAM’s current operation, which is being expanded with new routes and aircraft, which translates into an increase in passengers, 57,000 today, compared to the previous average of 46,000 a month.
The ongoing strategy to revitalise the company follows years of operational problems related to a reduced fleet and a lack of investment, with some incidents, not fatal, associated by experts with inefficient aircraft maintenance.
