The project to re-launch Zambia Airways as a National Airline has reached 90% completion stage and the board of directors will soon announce the revised date of launching the airline.
The plans to relaunch the National airline are still underway despite the delays in commencing the operations. Recently Government attributed the delays in launching the National airline to the Covid-19 pandemic, which had seen national airports shut across the world.
But Zambia Airways commercial manager Nobert Bwanga said the management were currently working on the regulatory requirements which were needed to fulfill before before commencing operations.
He said currently the project was sitting at about 85-90 per cent completion stage on all activities that are needed to be undertaken before operations commence.
Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Bwanga said so far testing configuration and identification of offices had been done.
“So after we fulfill the regulatory requirements, we will wait for the board of directors to give us the new date for launch based on the progress we will have made and what we will have managed to achieve.
“We are currently working on finalizing these, but for us to start operations we are waiting for the board to advise, the board is expected to have a meeting either at the end of this month or at the beginning of next month,” he said.
The new airline is a joint venture between the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Ethiopian Airlines – ET. The joint venture is meant to facilitate best practice knowledge transfer as ET remain Africa’s most resilient and largest airline.
In 2018, the Government entered into a joint partnership with Ethiopian Airlines on a 55/45 equity deal. Zambia has had no national carrier since 1994 when the airline, Zambia Airways was liquidated.
The country has however invested over US$1 billion in rebuilding its airport infrastructure that has seen the Lusaka’s Kenneth Kaunda and Copperbelt’s Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airports have completely new modern international terminals while Livingstone Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula international airport already commissioned.
