Zambia Airways (ZN, Lusaka) expects the imminent delivery of two more B737s from its minority shareholder Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International), according to Minister of Transport and Logistics, Frank Tayali.
Speaking at a recent event to celebrate Ethiopian Airlines' 25th anniversary of serving Zambia, he made an off-the-cuff remark, saying: "We are already at the stage where we are about to bring in two more 737 Boeing aircraft that are going to make Zambia Airways also a major competitor on the regional routes".
Zambia Airways currently operates one B737-800 and one DHC-8-Q400, both seconded by Ethiopian Airlines, which owns 45% of the airline, while the Zambian government, through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), has the majority share of 55%.
ch-aviation has reached out to Zambia Airways for more information.
According to the ch-aviation capacities module, the airline's only present regional route is between Lusaka and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, which it serves daily with the B737-800. It uses the Dash 8-Q400 to serve Livingstone, Ndola International, and Solwezi domestically.
Tayali commended the partnership between the government and Ethiopian Airlines: "We as the government believe that this was indeed a very well crafted partnership with an airline that has strong technical as well as operational capabilities." He added that Ethiopian Airlines Group continued to provide updated technology, leadership, network expansion, aviation mentoring, and upskilling of Zambian pilots and airline staff.
