Mocimboa aerodrome resuming operations on date yet to be determined – ADM | Carta

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Mocimboa aerodrome resuming operations on date yet to be determined – ADM | Carta

7:37 CAT | 11 Aug 2021

Photo: Twitter

Aeroportos de Moçambique (ADM) says that it has still not set a date for resuming operations at Mocimboa da Praia aerodrome, following the retaking of the town by the Mozambican and Rwandan forces last Sunday.

“We still don’t have a forecast, because first we have to go to the site, when everything is back to normal, to see the condition of the infrastructure. However, the photos we received show that externally everything is fine, but there may be damage inside,” ADM chairman Emanuel Chaves said in a telephone interview.

Chaves welcomed the retaking by the joint force, especially of the aerodrome, an infrastructure of great importance for the economy in the area.

The aerodrome was the target of an attack by the Islamic State, known locally as Al Shabab, on March 23, 2020. An office building, a double-cab Mahindra vehicle and a 15-seater Toyota mini-bus were destroyed.

With the apparent normalisation of the situation by the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) in the following months, the company had managed, five months later, to rehabilitate the infrastructure, at a cost of half a million meticais.

However, on August 11, 2020, the terrorists re-took the town of Mocimboa da Praia and held it until last Sunday, which limited access to the aerodrome and suspended air traffic, although a month later, in September 2020, the chairman of the National Civil Aviation Institute (IACM), João de Abreu, said that the Mocimboa aerodrome was operational.

By Evaristo Chilingue

2 anos depois, um avião de transporte pousou pela primeira vez no aeroporto de #Mocimboa da Praia. pic.twitter.com/altC3tTwwY

— Cabo Delgado (@DelgadoCabo) August 10, 2021