Maputo, 1 Jun (AIM) – Transport Minister Mateus Magala has claimed that the real debt of Mozambican Airlines (LAM) was lower than that declared.
The known debt of the company was evaluated at 300 million dollars. According to the minister, cited by the Portuguese News Agency Lusa on Wednesday, “the debt that has been declared, in fact, was less than that. Part of what was imputed as debt was not debt.”
“We were carrying unsustainable debt, because we penalized ourselves with a technical lapse or limited knowledge, but a small correction ascertained that LAM was not so bad in terms of debt”, Magala added.
On Monday, LAM’s new management, the international commission headed by the South African company “Fly Modern Ark”, announced that the company is no longer bankrupt after collecting 47.3 million dollars.
The operation, he continued, was due to “the deep technical knowledge” of Fly Modern Ark, the South African company hired by the Mozambican government in April to help normalize the financial and operational situation of LAM.
Mateus Magala pointed out that Fly Modern Ark’s intervention aims to “put the house in order, and later the Government will decide on the future of the carrier, depending on the options indicated in studies on the viability of the carrier, which include privatization or identifying a partner company.”
Currently LAM operates in the market with seven aircraft, of which two are constantly under maintenance and with 753 employees which translates into a ratio of 112 employees per aircraft.
LAM aims to increase the number of aircraft up to 15 and if this is achieved, it will no longer be necessary to reduce the number of employees.
It should be noted that with the restructuring of LAM, the cost of airline tickets to some destinations has fallen by 30 per cent, in an attempt to increase passenger numbers.
(AIM)
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