Zambia Airways debuts int’l ops with Zimbabwe route
20.03.2023 – 03:58 UTC
Zambia Airways (ZN, Lusaka) launches international operations on March 28 with a regional route to Harare International, the capital of Zimbabwe, the airline announced on social media.
The carrier’s online schedule reveals that flights between Lusaka and Harare will run 3x weekly, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, using a DHC-8-Q400. This follows its recent announcement that it had secured long-awaited foreign operator permits.
Plans to debut regional services in July 2022 were delayed by lengthy regulatory processes to obtain the FOPs, a situation eventually resolved when Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema stepped in to negotiate with his counterparts to the south.
Other regional routes in the booking system – but not yet scheduled – are Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (South Africa), Addis Ababa International (Ethiopia), Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta and Mombasa (Kenya), and Kinshasa N’Djili (DRC).
Zambia Airways is a joint venture between Ethiopian Airlines and the Zambian government through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The carrier currently operates two DHC-8-Q400s owned by Ethiopian Airlines, the…
Zambia Airways secures first jet, a B737-800
10.03.2023 – 08:45 UTC
The Zambian government has announced it has acquired a B737-800 for Zambia Airways‘ first regional route – to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, South Africa – to launch in the second quarter of 2023. No further details on the aircraft were disclosed.
This comes after the South African Department of Transport finally granted a foreign operator’s permit to Zambia Airways. As reported, plans to debut regional services in July 2022 were scuppered through delays in securing its FOP, a situation eventually resolved when Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema stepped in to negotiate on the airline’s behalf with his regional counterpart. As a result of the delay, the airline was limited to domestic services and could not expand its fleet. The airline currently wet-leases two DHC-8-Q400s from Ethiopian Airlines, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module reveals.
Zambia Airways is a joint venture between the Ethiopian flag carrier and the Zambian government through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).
Speaking in South Africa on March 7, 2023, Zambia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics, Frank Tayali, welcomed the…
Windhoek engages Ethiopian Airlines to revive Air Namibia
23.02.2023 – 12:34 UTC
Namibian President Hage Geingob has met with Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) top executives to explore how the carrier could assist the Namibian government in reviving its defunct national airline, Air Namibia (Windhoek International), reports The Namibian newspaper.
According to Geingob’s spokesman Alfredo Hengari, the Namibian leader met with Ethiopian Airlines’ chairman, Girma Wake, and Chief Executive Officer Mesfin Tasew in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of the 36th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government held on February 18 and 19.
Hengari said the meeting had been “prospective”. Geingob had highlighted a roadmap to revive the airline.
During his address at the AU summit, Geingob also reiterated the sentiment of the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) that Namibia needed a national airline. He said a clear plan would be tabled at Cabinet-level for decision-making and operationalisation.
Air Namibia was liquidated in 2021 following years of incurring losses running into billions through mismanagement.
Hengari said: “The relevant ministries will lead…
