Mozambique: Flag carrier on market to acquire up to five Boeing 737-700

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Flag carrier on market to acquire up to five Boeing 737-700

1:53 CAT | 11 Jun 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Mozambique Airlines (LAM) is in the market to acquire up to five Boeing 737-700 aircraft, a process led by international consultancy Knighthood Global, responsible for restructuring the Mozambican state-owned airline.

In an announcement published this month by Knighthood Global and consulted by Lusa on Wednesday, the Abu Dhabi-based consultancy said that it had been mandated by LAM’s shareholders to receive proposals for the supply of “up to five Boeing 737-700 aircraft”.

“Knighthood Global is conducting this competitive process, with limited deadlines, to secure aircraft that meet LAM’s operational, commercial and strategic requirements, whether through direct purchase, financial lease or operating lease,” the announcement reads.

The tender specifies that the aircraft to be supplied must have a two-class configuration, “with a minimum of 120 and a maximum of 140 seats, optimised for the requirements of LAM’s intra-African network”.

“Interested parties must submit formal proposals, including technical specifications, maintenance status reports and commercial terms, by Friday, 20 June 2025,” the announcement added.

Knighthood Global announced in May that it had three months to “stabilise and reposition” LAM, explaining at the time that it had been “appointed by the government of Mozambique to help revitalise” the company and “the country’s aviation sector in general”.

“The focus in the first three months will be on stabilising and repositioning LAM,” the note said, reported on 19 May by Lusa, in which the consultant stated that it would work with the new shareholders, the public companies Hidroelétrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) and Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (Emose), which “have a mandate to acquire the appropriate aircraft and re-establish a fleet”.

The Mozambican company also confirmed in May, in a statement, that it had hired Knighthood Global, explaining that “it will be responsible for advising on the restructuring of LAM’s financial base, providing strategic support in the evaluation, selection and supply of aircraft suitable for operational needs,” among other things.

“Aligning it with industry standards, reducing its level of indebtedness and strengthening its investment profile,” it added, an intervention that “aims to respond to structural challenges that the company has been facing, such as the obsolescence of part of its fleet, recurring financial difficulties and intensified competition in the aviation sector.”

The Mozambican State Participation Management Institute (Igepe) announced on 13 May the removal of LAM’s management and the appointment of a management committee to be chaired by Dane Kondic.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary general meeting of LAM, as part of the “revitalisation process” of the state-owned airline, with “immediate effect” on the termination of the functions of Marcelino Gildo Alberto, until then chairman of the board of directors, and directors Altino Xavier Mavile and Bruno Miranda.

The appointment of a non-government board of directors was also approved, composed of representatives of the three state-owned companies that became LAM shareholders this year, namely HCB, CFM and Emose.

Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo said on 28 April that there are “foxes and corrupt people” within LAM, with “conflicts of interest” that have prevented the company from being restructured in 100 days.

“One of the impactful actions we had planned for these 100 days was the acquisition of three aircraft for LAM. However, when we decided that we would have at least three aircraft available before 100 days, we discovered that within LAM we were handing foxes to guard a henhouse, or cats to guard mice,” said the President of Mozambique.

Source: Lusa