The plan to demolish Chingodzi airport in Tete, and instead mine the mineral coal on the site, has been abandoned, Aeroportos de Moçambique spokesperson Saíde Júnior has revealed, because the company concerned did not follow up on the matter. In mid-2014, the then Minister of Transport and Communications, Gabriel Muthisse, said in public that Tete airport would, by 2023, be relocated to allow for the mining of coal believed to lie beneath the site.
Newspaper ‘Notícias’ reported at the time that the Mozambican government and Rio Tinto had in 2010 signed a memorandum regarding the identification of a suitable location for the new airport. The same year, the Anglo-Australian group, holder of other important mining concessions, signed a memorandum of understanding with Aeroportos de Moçambique, to assess the quantity of mineral coal existing at the site. It concluded, according to ‘NewsAvia’, that one of the country’s largest reserves of coal extended under Chingodzi airport, and that development of the resource would necessitate in the demolition and relocation of the airport. However, almost seven years after then Minister Muthisse’s announcement, plans to relocate the airport have been shelved, the spokesperson and financial administrator of Aeroportos de Moçambique has told ‘Carta’.
“Unfortunately, discussions were discontinued. After the studies, the company interested in the exploration of coal at the site [Rio Tinto] did not pursue the matter further. Aeroportos de Moçambique, however, is still keen on the development. That is to say that, if there is a need to transfer the airport, the company will have to agree,” Júnior stated. Tete airport has, since 2010, had the capacity to receive regional as well as domestic traffic, following investment in a separate terminal with facilities for customs, migration and health services. The investment increased the airport’s capacity from 70,000 to 200,000 passengers per year.
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