The Mozambican airline, Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM), has selected, in a first phase, 14 companies for the acquisition of lots of Embraer 190 and Boeing 737-700 aircraft, all in an undetermined number, the newspaper Savana reported, citing a statement from the airline.
According to the agency, LAM is in the process of notifying the 14 shortlisted organisations to submit technical and financial proposals for subsequent evaluation and a decision on who will be awarded the contract. The competing companies include those from Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, China, the United States of America (USA), Brazil, Libya and South Africa, among others, in a scenario in which all continents are represented.
At national level, only one company competed, Helirescue24africa Lda, represented by Stephen Chituku, a Zimbabwean citizen. The company is a sole proprietorship, registered in 2018, and has a share capital of 100,000 meticals.
The notice deals with the same expression of interest and the submission of tenders, with very short deadlines (seven days) in a large-scale process that usually takes around 25 days. The document also mentions the purchase of five aeroplanes. The shareholders are talking about the purchase of eight aircraft, while the government, in its 100-day governance plan, is committed to acquiring three.
List of companies shortlisted for the purchase of aircraft
Publicly there are no specifications as to whether the aircraft are new or second-hand, in order to facilitate the expression of interest proposal. The lack of clarity in the evaluation criteria raises a number of suspicions that decisions have already been made.
The public tender is surrounded by controversy due to various irregularities and inconsistencies that raise several questions about LAM.
However, Savana has learnt that the airline has been in negotiations with an American company called Aventus, which may be a subcontractor of the bidders for the purchase of an unidentified number of Embraer 190s.
