LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (TM, Maputo) is to lease four more aircraft - two B737s and two E145s - to boost capacity on domestic and regional routes, according to Américo Muchanga, who took over as chairman of the state-owned airline in July 2024.
Speaking to public broadcaster Televisão de Moçambique (TVM) on the sidelines of the Maputo International Trade Fair (Feira Internacional de Maputo - FACIM) this week, Muchanga disclosed: "We're thinking of bringing in two more Boeing 737 aircraft and two more Embraer 145 aircraft to reinforce our domestic and regional routes." He gave no further details, but Ana Coanai, president of the state asset manager (Instituto de Gestão das Participações do Estado - IGEPE), explained to Jornal Notícia that the aircraft would be leased to address a current capacity shortage at the airline, thereby reducing delays and boosting frequencies on domestic and regional routes.
Currently, of LAM's fleet of seven aircraft, only one B737-700, C9-BAR (msn 30674), is operational, serving domestic routes between Maputo, Nampula, Beira, Lichinga, and Tete, plus regional routes to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Dar es Salaam, according to ADS-B data. The rest of the fleet is out of action, including three DHC-8-Q400s, two E145s operated by subsidiary MEX - Mocambique Expresso (MXE, Maputo), and a B737-300(F) freighter.
Instead, the airline relies on costly wet-leases, including a B777-200ER, sourced from euroAtlantic Airways (YU, Lisbon), which operates the airline's only intercontinental route - between Maputo and Lisbon. Two CRJ900s wet-leased from CemAir (5Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) connect Maputo with Johannesburg and Cape Town International and conduct domestic flights to Pemba, MZ, Nacala, Quelimane, Chimoio, Pemba, Tete, and Beira, ADS-B data reveals.
According to Muchanga, LAM aims to run more regular services between Johannesburg and Inhambane in southern Mozambique, given its attractiveness for tourism from South Africa. He said LAM seeks to sustain the Maputo-Lisbon route under more profitable and operationally viable conditions. "We're working on it. We want to operate this route in conditions where it is sustainable and can generate profit, let's say, operationally", he said.
He underlined that the airline is still undergoing a transformation, with the main challenge being stabilising its current operations. "And this stabilisation consists, first of all, of having more aircraft flying on the routes we currently fly," he explained.
Muchanga revealed that the flag carrier recorded a turnover of MZN3.7 billion meticais (USD57.8 million) in the first half of 2024. Despite revenue falling slightly below projections, the airline expects a 19% growth if the year's second half mirrors the first. He said LAM transported 330,000 passengers in the first six months of 2024, missing its target of 500,000, although domestic passenger numbers exceeded expectations.
Muchanga was appointed chairman of LAM in July, having replaced Theunis Crous of South African brokerage Fly Modern Ark (FMA), who had held the position on an interim basis since February following the removal of general manager João Pó Jorge. The Mozambican government had hired FMA in April 2023 to spearhead a government-appointed commission overseeing the restructuring of LAM. Crous touted an ambitious five-year restructuring plan to expand the fleet via leases to 22 aircraft by 2027. The plan depended on enough capital, revenues, and financing from lenders.
FMA alleged embezzlement schemes at LAM involving unauthorised ticket sales through automatic payment terminal machines (TPAs) that did not belong to the airline. Mozambique's anti-corruption watchdog (GCCC) has launched an investigation, conducted searches, and seized materials, with several suspects under scrutiny, spokesman Romualdo Johnam told the Lusa news agency.
