Mozambique Airlines (LAM) announced today the creation of a direct “air bridge” between Johannesburg, South Africa, and Pemba, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, with three weekly connections later this month.
A note from the Mozambican state airline consulted by Lusa states that the link aims to “promote business and tourism growth” and will start on 29 January.
The new connection joins other direct flights that LAM has already introduced in recent months, in the revitalisation process underway since last April, between Johannesburg and Cape Town, in South Africa, and Maputo, Inhambane and Vilanculos, followed now by Pemba.
The debut of this “air bridge” comes at a time when several international organisations point to the imminent announcement of the resumption of TotalEnergies’ natural gas project in Cabo Delgado, one of the largest of its kind in Africa and which has been suspended since 2021 due to the terrorist attacks in the region.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) itself estimated that TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG megaproject, valued at 20 billion dollars, would resume at the beginning of this year, given the improvement in security conditions.
“Security conditions in the north [Cabo Delgado] continue to improve and the restart of the large LNG [Liquefied Natural Gas] project that was interrupted in April 2021 is expected in early 2024,” reads a report reported last week by Lusa, on the approval this month of the third assessment of the implementation of the 36-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme in Mozambique.
The Johannesburg-Pemba route is part of the operator’s revitalisation plan, after the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA) took over management of LAM in April last year for the restructuring process.
LAM’s flight network has 12 destinations on the domestic market, regionally it flies regularly to Johannesburg, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Lusaka and Cape Town, while Lisbon has been the only intercontinental destination since 12 December.
LAM operates more than 40 flights a day, using its fleet of one Boeing 737, three Q400s, two Bombardier CRJ 900s and two Embraer 145s operated by its subsidiary Moçambique Expresso (MEX).
Lusa
