LAM receives its first Boeing 737-300 freighter

Maputo, 03 Jan (AIM) – Mozambique Airlines (LAM) has recently received its first Boeing 737-300 freighter, which will meet the demand for the transportation of goods.

According to Wednesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Notícias”, citing a source from the company, following the freighter reception, some bureaucratic “demarches” are underway so that the aircraft can start operating soon.

According to the source, LAM, in coordination with the company Mozambique Airports (ADM), is working in order to make the transportation of goods more competitive, which includes re-evaluating the fees charged and ensuring that all systems were certified.

At the moment, two charges are levied: cargo, which costs 10 cents per kilogram, and airport security, which varies from one airport to another and depending on whether it is an export or import.

Under the Economic Acceleration Program, the airport security for Chimoio, in the central province of Manica, and Lichinga and Pemba – in the northern provinces of Niassa and Cabo Delgado, respectively – is no longer charged, in order to encourage the export of products from those provinces.

The company also argued that in order to promote competitiveness it is also necessary to create incentives and encourage producers to transport cargo by air.

Last December, LAM resumed direct flights from Maputo to Lisbon, after an interruption of 12 years. It also announced, last September, the resumption of direct flights between Johannesburg and the southern Mozambican city of Inhambane, as well as the intention of buying a Boeing 737 freighter to handle cargo transport within the country and abroad.

In April, the government placed LAM under the management of the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), which is responsible for bringing the company into profitability, and rescuing it from bankruptcy.

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