Monday, September 3, 2018

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES TO OPERATE FROM NACALA

Resultado de imagem para etiopia mozambique airlines
Ethiopian Airlines will begin operating domestic flights in Mozambique as from 1 October, according to Emmanuel Chaves, chairperson of the Mozambican airports company AdM.
Speaking at an event during the Maputo International Trade Fair (FACIM), held in Marracene district, 30 kilometres north of the capital, Chaves said Ethiopian Airlines would exploit both domestic and international routes based on the northern airport of Nacala.
Nacala airport, despite the high standard of its facilities, is usually written off as an expensive folly, since so far no international companies have expressed any interest in flying there. Currently the only scheduled flights are by Mozambique Airlines (LAM), which flies between Maputo and Nacala twice a week.
The airport, inaugurated by former President Armando Guebuza in 2014, was not preceded by any serious viability study to establish whether there was a demand for flights to Nacala. It was built by the Brazilian company Odebrecht, and Brazilian prosecutors have established that Odebrecht paid a bribe of 900,000 dollars, presumably in connection with the airport. The Mozambican recipients of this bribe have not yet been named.
Imagem relacionadaBut the decision by Ethiopian Airlines could change the picture. Chaves, cited in Friday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, said that, with this development, Nacala Airport “will no longer be a white elephant”.He explained that the company has set up a subsidiary “Ethiopian Mozambique Airlines”, which is registered in Mozambique. Based on its Mozambican certification, it will be able to fly to destinations inside and outside Mozambique.
He added that a team of senior managers from Ethiopian Airlines is currently in Mozambique, dealing with the final details to ensure that the flights will indeed begin in October.Chaves believed that the Ethiopian Airlines operations in Nacala will make it viable to embark on a major real estate development on an area of 300 hectares alongside the airport. He added that the Bank of Mozambique has already agreed to build its northern regional offices in this “airport city”.Chaves said that ADM is in negotiations with LAM so that the LAM subsidiary MEX (Mozambique Express) will base its operations in Nacala.

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