Mozambique: LAM halts loss-making Maputo-Lisbon, Harare, Lusaka flights

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Mozambique: LAM halts loss-making Maputo-Lisbon, Harare, Lusaka flights

2:10 CAT | 18 Feb 2025

File photo: RM

Mozambique’s flag carrier Linhas Aéreas de Mozambique (LAM) announced on Tuesday the suspension of the Maputo – Lisbon flight as of Wednesday, pointing out that since 2023 the company has accumulated losses of more than US$21 million (€20 million) due to the operation.

“As long as the company isn’t organised and we continue to have irregularities on domestic flights, we can’t fly big,” said Alfredo Cossa, LAM’s spokesman, at a press conference in Maputo.

Abandoned by the company for almost 12 years, the Maputo-Lisbon route was resumed on 20 November 2023 and was part of the operator’s revitalisation plan, after the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA) took over LAM’s management in April of that year for a restructuring process.

The 302-seat Boeing 777, the result of a partnership with Portuguese operator EuroAtlantic, connected the two capitals three times a week, with promotional prices starting at 25,000 meticais (€368) in economy class.

According to the LAM spokesman, the company’s new board of directors concluded that the operation, which left a loss of US$21 million, was unviable.

“We fuelled this route based on funds from the domestic market. We produced and paid for it, and at this point we can no longer cope,” said Alfredo Cossa, adding that there are at least 1,080 passengers who had already bought tickets and will be travelling with other companies that make the connection, under the agreements the company has with other operators.

In addition to the Maputo-Lisbon route, LAM has also suspended the connection between the Mozambican capital and Harare in Zimbabwe and Lusaka in Zambia, which were also described as unsustainable.

“Once we’ve put our house in order and consolidated our position, we’ll look at intercontinental and regional routes,” added the LAM spokesman.

For several years, LAM has been facing operational problems related to a reduced fleet and a lack of investment, with a record of some incidents, not fatal, associated by experts with poor aircraft maintenance.

On 23 January, the aviation regulatory authority confirmed that Mozambique had returned the Boeing 737-300 cargo plane to Indonesia after a year without operating it, due to the lack of national certification and recognition of the aircraft’s modifications by the manufacturer.

A day earlier, LAM had announced the selection of Marcelino Gildo Alberto as chairman of the board of directors, the third appointment to lead the airline in less than a year.

This is the third new executive leader in almost 11 months, replacing Américo Muchanga, who in turn had replaced Theunis Crous, from Fly Modern Ark (FMA), the South African company hired to recover LAM.

During FMA’s period of management, the South African company denounced schemes to embezzle money from LAM, with losses of almost €3 million, in ticket shops, through automatic payment terminal machines (TPA/POS) that do not belong to the company.

Mozambique’s central anti-corruption office (GCCC) opened a case to investigate alleged corruption schemes in ticket sales at the Mozambican airline and in the management of the company’s fleet, and seized various materials.

On February 4 this year, the government authorised the sale of 91% of the state’s stake in LAM to state-owned companies, indicating that the figure will be used to purchase eight aircraft.

The approved resolution determines that only three state-owned companies – the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Plant (HCB), Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique (CFM) and Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (Emose) – can acquire the state’s stake in LAM.

“With the amount raised, estimated at US$130 million (€125 million), it is intended to invest in the acquisition of eight aircraft and the restructuring of the company,” said government spokesman Inocêncio Impissa at the time.

Source: Lusa