Africa-Press – Mozambique. The lease of five aircraft by state-owned Mozambique Airlines (LAM) aims to ensure that “transportation is not paralyzed”, the government has said, while also affirming that the previously announced plan to purchase Boeing aircraft will remain in place.
“While the aircraft acquisition process is underway, the transportation service must not be paralyzed. It seems faster to lease one or two aircraft, allowing the normal purchasing process to proceed,” said Mozambican government spokesman Inocêncio Impissa after the weekly Council of Ministers meeting in Maputo.
Lusa reported on July 31 that state-owned LAM had launched a tender for the short-term lease of five aircraft to meet operational improvements. The airline explained that the aircraft lease is part of its investment plan and intended to meet the growing demand for aviation services at a national and regional level, driven by electricity, oil and gas megaprojects, and the tourism industry.
The tender, LAM further stated, is open to “all interested national and foreign companies” in the process, running until August 22nd, through a bidding process “for the short-term lease of up to five aircraft” under a ‘wet lease’ arrangement, meaning the aircraft are fully operational, including crew, maintenance, and insurance.
When questioned by journalists this Tuesday, Impissa reiterated that, despite the advanced tender for aircraft lease, the plan to purchase aircraft remains in place.
“What we can assure you is that it is. The aircraft acquisition process is ongoing, and what we know is that the acquisition plan is ongoing while LAM itself is being reformed, but at the same time, the transportation service is being provided through temporary aircraft, in this case leased for this purpose,” Impissa said.
For several years, LAM has faced operational problems related to a small fleet and a lack of investment, with a number of non-fatal incidents attributed by experts to poor aircraft maintenance. The company is now undergoing a major restructuring process.
On June 22, the President of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, warned that the ongoing restructuring at LAM would also take place at other public sector companies that are not generating revenue for the state.
“What is clear is that we really need, and this process is underway, to make the [aircraft] acquisitions for LAM and truly begin building a robust company that can generate profits and dividends. […] Now, I want to make it clear that this work will not end at LAM,” the Mozambican head of state declared.
The Mozambican Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE) announced on May 13 the removal of LAM’s board of directors and the appointment of a management committee chaired by Dane Kondic.
The decision was made at LAM’s extraordinary general meeting, as part of the state-owned airline’s “revitalization process”. The appointment of a non-executive board of directors was also approved, composed of representatives from the three state-owned companies that became LAM shareholders this year: Hidroelétrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), Ports and Railways of Mozambique (CFM), and Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (EMOSE).
Consulting firm Knighthood Global, also hired by the shareholders to advise on the restructuring, stated in May that it had three months to “stabilize and reposition” LAM, explaining at the time that it was “appointed by the Government of Mozambique to help revitalize” the company and “the country’s aviation sector in general”.
In June, the firm launched a tender to contract up to five Boeing 737-700s for the Mozambican airline, with no outcome so far known.
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