Maputo, Nov. 7, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique needs more than €610 million to implement the new civil aviation strategy, which plans to modernise the country's main airports over the next 20 years, it announced on Friday.
"The estimated cost of implementing the civil aviation strategy is approximately $710 million (€613 million) over the 20-something years that we are proposing," said Artur Soares, manager of one of the companies contracted by the Mozambican Ministry of Transport to advise on the development of the national Civil Aviation Master Plan (2026-2045).
According to Soares, who was speaking during the plan's consultation ceremony in Maputo, the plan provides for 179 actions to be developed in the short term, 34 in the medium term and four in the long term, in nine strategic axes, to promote civil aviation that complies with international air and airport safety standards, allowing air transport to fully perform its service fully, consolidating national action and socio-economic development.
"These nine pillars cover all the main areas and those relating to civil aviation. The first axis focuses on strengthening the legislative and institutional framework to improve coordination between stakeholders in the civil sector," he said.
On the other hand, he pointed out that the other axes include improving air connectivity and promoting regional integration; improving airport security; modernising airport infrastructure; strengthening Mozambican air operators; optimising costs and operational efficiency; and developing and strengthening human resources.
‘Obviously, as we've already mentioned, it's a dynamic plan that can be adapted to the country's strategy and the growth of the various sectors that are happening now and will happen in the future," he said.
The plan also includes the short-term modernisation of Maputo, Beira and Nacala international airports, with an estimated investment of around $440 million (€380 million).
"The funding will combine national resources and support from development partners and public-private partnerships. Therefore, the modernisation of airport infrastructure, plus the modernisation of airspace management and improvement, are approximately 90% of our investment," he said, adding that the policy will guide the reforms, investments and partnerships needed to ensure the sector's development.
The plan, he said, will adopt a new national civil aviation policy for the next 20 years, to replace the 2002 policy with an updated institutional strategic framework aligned with international standards.
Lusa reported in May that air transport would handle more than 2.4 million passengers in Mozambique in 2024, up almost 25% in one year, according to official figures that point to a target of reaching three million in two years.
According to data from the Civil Aviation Authority of Mozambique (IACM), air transport handled a total of 2,445,240 passengers in 2024, and 81,636 aircraft movements, compared to 1,974,523 passengers in 2023, and is expected to grow by a further 11% this year, to just over 2.7 million.
The ‘improvements in airport conditions associated with the capacity of airports in current and potential tourist leisure destinations, such as Vilanculos, Inhambane, Chimoio, Ponta do Ouro", and the ‘increased efforts towards higher value markets and the procedures involved in obtaining a visa" on the part of foreign tourists are factors identified by the IACM that justify the forecast growth in air traffic in Mozambique.
In 2027, the sector regulator estimates that air transport will handle more than 2.9 million passengers in the country and the following year, 3.1 million.
LCE/ADB // ADB.
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