LAM negotiates Lisbon-Maputo

The director-general of LAM, Mozambique’s flag-carrier told Lusa in Lisbon that the company is trying to negotiate with TAP a partnership that allows daily flights between the two countries.

“We want, if possible, a partnership with TAP for a direct flight almost daily,” said João Carlos Pó Jorge, in statements to Lusa on the sidelines of the ceremony that marked on Monday the launch of flights between Lisbon-Maputo.

A ceremony that marked the return of LAM to European airspace.

“Within three or four years we would like to have daily flights between the two operators, with code sharing so that a person can buy a flight from Porto to Nampula, for example. But also vice versa, from Pemba to Porto, or to New York or London”.João Carlos Pó Jorge estimates that passenger traffic between Portugal and Mozambique will grow “quite a lot” in the coming years, thanks to the major oil and gas projects to be carried out in northern Mozambique.“The oil projects involve a lot of movement, both in terms of frequencies and volume of passengers”, he said, adding that LAM, sees this market growing a lot.Today the route Maputo-Lisbon has about 40,000 passengers, most on TAP, but also other companies, via other destinations. LAM will, from March 31 next year, return to direct flights to Europe, via Lisbon, which has not happened since 2011.The flights will be operated by an Airbus A340-300 aircraft, with 260 seats and more than 40 tons of cargo, and which will connect the two capitals three times a week: Maputo-Lisbon on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, and Lisbon-Maputo on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

 

LAM’s return to European airspace occurs in cooperation with the Portuguese private airline Hi Fly, owner of the Airbus A340-300 aircraft, and with which a trial period of six months was agreed.For the new flight, the objectives are high: “We want to transport, in the first year between 12-14,000 passengers. But obviously we have to adjust our offer to what we see happening in the market”.