Maputo, May 6, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique Airlines (LAM) announced on Tuesday the temporary integration of a Boeing 737-500 aircraft into its fleet, as a way of "relieving the pressure" the company has been feeling on daily flights.
In a statement, the state-owned airline said that the aircraft has been operating since early this morning. It has the capacity to carry 134 passengers and "the advantage of accommodating more baggage and cargo".
"Relieving the pressure on the company's daily flights," LAM explained, adding that it now operates with four aircraft, including the previous ones: a CRJ 900 and two Embraer 145s.
"LAM is committed to finding definitive solutions to restore the quality of its operations and improve passenger service," the company statement said.
On 24 April, LAM justified the cancellation and constant rescheduling of flights by reducing its fleet to three aircraft. This followed the withdrawal of two CRJ 900 aircraft from South Africa's CemAir following the unilateral termination of the contract.
"We're constantly rescheduling flights and these reschedules are part of a cancellation process, we're having cancellations, rescheduling due to a lack of passenger capacity," the flag carrier's spokesman, Alfredo Cossa, acknowledged at a press conference at the time.
With the withdrawal of the private South African company CemAir's CRJ 900 aircraft, which had a capacity of 90 passengers each, the Mozambican state-owned airline began operating with three aircraft - now four - and also has another, for 37 passengers, but which does not operate regularly as LAM does not own it.
"We are now concentrating on finding partners to solve the crisis we are going through and we are in negotiations," said Alfredo Cossa.
Linhas Aéreas said that the termination of the contract with the South African company that owned the CRJ 900 aircraft was done "unilaterally, without prior notice", with the consequences of a "drastic reduction in the flow of passengers".
On 31 January, LAM launched a procedure to try to contract the supply of Embraer ERJ190 and Boeing 737-700 aircraft, according to a notice previously reported by Lusa. Still, the results of the tender are not known.
For several years, LAM has been facing operational problems related to a reduced fleet and lack of investment. A number of incidents, not fatal, have been linked by experts to poor aircraft maintenance.
The flag carrier's recurring problems led to the hiring of Fly Modern Ark (FMA). The contract ended on 12 September 2024 and had been in force since April 2023, when the South African company was called in to implement a revitalisation strategy.
The FMA recognised at the time that LAM had an estimated debt of around $300 million (€269 million at the current exchange rate).
Meanwhile, the Mozambican Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) announced in April that it was opening a case to investigate the details of signing an agreement between the FMA and Mozambican entities to restructure the state-owned LAM.
The Public Prosecutor's Office also said that the case concerning alleged corruption schemes in ticket sales at LAM still has no defendants and is being investigated. The aim is to identify the ownership of the automatic payment terminal machines used to sell tickets, ascertain the losses, and identify the perpetrators.
In February, the government authorised the sale of 91% of the state's stake in LAM to state-owned companies, indicating that the amount would be used to purchase eight aircraft.
On average, LAM currently has 915 passengers a day travelling to national and regional destinations.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
