This aspiration was expressed by LAM’s Chief Executive Officer, Marlene Manave, during the visit of Prime Minister Alberto Vaquina to the company’s headquarters in Maputo.
Manave explained that the company has seen remarkable growth over the last few years. The volume of business has increased from 100 million US dollars in 2009 to 157 million dollars last year.
The growing confidence of the airline is shown by its plan to introduce next year flights to Cape Town and Durban. It also plans to connect the Mozambican cities of Tete and Nampula with Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi.
The other regional target is Windhoek in Namibia, with flights scheduled to begin in 2017.
In addition, LAM is considering launching intercontinental flights to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil in 2016 or 2017.
According to Manave, LAM is working hard to remove Mozambique from the list of countries that are banned from flying in European Union airspace. If this is not possible, LAM is pushing for the company to be listed in the EU blacklist’s “Annex B” which covers airlines which are restricted to operating certain aircraft within EU airspace.
Speaking at the LAM headquarters, Prime Minister Vaquina said that the airline has reached remarkable levels of performance. He was impressed by the company’s aspirations for fleet expansion and said that the need for investment should be properly addressed.
The Prime Minister also expressed pride in the fact that Mozambique has technicians with the skills to ensure that aircraft are properly maintained.
Post published in: Africa News