Zambia Airways finally set to take off on December 1st 2021

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Zambia Airways finally set to take off on December 1st 2021
Zambia Airways finally set to take off on December 1st 2021

Africa-Press – Zambia. Zambia Airways will get back to the skies on 1st December, 2021, with its initial domestic flights from Lusaka to Ndola. new Zambia Airways (ZN, Lusaka) will operate a frequency of five and six times a week to Livingstone and Ndola, respectively.

The new Zambia Airways is a joint venture established in August 2018 between the Industrial Development Corporation Limited (IDC), which holds 55% shareholding, and Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa), with 45% ownership which the shareholders had contributed USD30 million in capital towards the establishment of the airline.

According to a statement issued to the media by the Zambia Airways board, other domestic routes to Mfuwe and Solwezi will follow before introducing regional destinations, to Johannesburg and Harare, to its network within the first quarter of 2022.

The Zambia Airways established in 1964 ceased operations in 1994 is now set to resume operations this festive season using a fleet of three leased aircraft including two DHC-8-Q400s and one B737-800, reported The Lusaka Times. As previously reported, the aircraft are expected to be sourced from Ethiopian Airlines, which operates a fleet of twenty-seven Q400s and sixteen B737-800s.

The airline was initially to be launched on October 24, 2018, before being postponed for a second time to August 20, but its debut was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, re-certification procedures which were still ongoing by April 2021, and Zambia having had to ratify the Cape Town Convention to secure Zambia Airways’ leased fleet.

So far, 25 Zambian cabin crew members had been trained at the Ethiopian Aviation Academy and five Zambian pilots had been recruited who would receive type-training at Ethiopian Airlines.

The new flag carrier expected an uptick in domestic and regional travel with increasing vaccinations against COVID-19 in the region. The airline would also leverage on the modern infrastructure at the new Ndola airport and the newly-constructed Terminal Two at Lusaka.

The new Terminal Two at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka was formally commissioned on August 9, 2021, by the then Zambian President Edgar Lungu, who said his administration had invested more than $1 billion in the aviation sector.

The new facility was opened for international flights on August 5, 2021, according to a notice by the Zambia Airports Corporation Limited (ZACL). Domestic passengers will continue to be processed through the old Terminal One until further notice.

Other key milestones had included the acquisition of an Air Service Permit and an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), and the granting of the AZB designator code from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

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