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Zambian Airways Suspends Operations

By editor
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Reuters reports that Zambia’s privately-owned carrier Zambian Airways said on Saturday it had suspended operations with immediate effect, citing high fuel costs over the last year-and-a-half and the need to restructure its operations.

The airline said in a notice to passengers at Lusaka airport that it had experienced difficulties after jet fuel rose 100 percent in the last 18 months, increasing its operational costs by 50 percent.

“This created a lot of problems for Zambian Airways as a growing business. In the interest of our stakeholders and our employees, we have decided with immediate effect to suspend all our operations until further notice,” it said.

Dozens of passengers flying to South Africa were left stranded, eye witnesses said.

The airline has been operating two flights a day to South Africa and used to fly several times a week to other major hubs in southern Africa.

[Reuters]

editor
editorhttp://www.lusakatimes.com

188 COMMENTS

  4. Zambian Airways is just one casualty of the global economic meltdown. It is sad that a home-grown enterprise has succumbed to the vicissitudes of the international economic order.

  6. If you can’t be disciplined in the way you handle finances reality will do it for you.How can you go bust and cite high fuel prices when fuel prices have now tumbled down to $40 a barrel! 😕

    1

  9. # 6 you havw point realy this is not the time to point at fuel with oil at $ 40. there is a whole lot more behind this acton and saddly we may never get the whole truth

  14. Not at all surprising. When it became clear that they could not honour their ‘Twende’ program, could not apologise to passengers when flights were late, etc the writing was on the wall. Aviation is serious business. You don’t really expect a half-baked CEO who spends most of the times at court to be effective enough to run an airline.

  16. #7 let me ask you this in simple terms .. if for example you have a buss that drives to kitwe 2 times a day from lusaka , return , and fuel in lusaka is 50% more than that at your destination , what do you do … …………………………my point exactly you insted start filling up from kitwe . that simple ..so my pint being Zambian airways does not have to buy ava gas in zambia , so the fuel issue realy is a miss direction if you ask me … its not as though we all did not know that Zambian airways owes national airports millions of $$$$ from the last 3 years what do you say about that

  18. #16 you are spot on.i think Zambia Airways was poorly managed.This thing of”nkongole” or getting services and not paying for them in time is so deeply ingrained in the Zambian business community.Rarely will a business pay you immediately you deliver a service.Thats probably how Zambia airways ended up being in so much debt.

  19. Not so long ago zambian airways introduced a no frills flight too and from South africa for only 100$ each way thus making a flight cheeper that taking the bus , realy , how on earth do you do that and how do you expect to sustain such an action dont think that because south west Airlines in the usa can charge less than 50 $ for some domestic flights we in zambia can do the same …grand idea but not practicale … South west airlines has over 70 jets to play with and has over 1000 of consultants to check and re check and counter re chaeck the viability of anyb action it considers zambian airways has only 2 jets if so and consultants ,,,,GOd knows.

  20. I have been wondering why blogers at this site (including myself) have been always breaking their necks to make sure they are the first ones to give a comment on a just posted Topic. So, I went to open all sorts of books of sycho-social behaviour.. I am glad I now have the answers to share.
    1. It creates a sense of intelligence, given the Zambian Education background where a best student is ranked as No.1, second as No. 2. etc. Unfortunately, being No.1 under this ranking doest not give a clue how sharp one is: S/he is probably N0.1 but with a 45% mark for example.
    2.Socio-condtioning: Society tends to believe anything ranked as No.1 is the best. LOL:d:d

  21. This was long overdue. I think its about prudent financial management which Zambian airways is lacking. Recall former finance minister wanted to bail out the airline because of failing to pay airport user fees to NACL!! The money was not for Zambian airways but they were just collecting it from clients on behalf of NACL. I think our local industries should be prudent in their dealings. Too bad Mwanawasa who was protecting them is no more otherwise Zambian airways would have wound up a long time ago.

  24. People of Zambia two things here. First this is round 1 of RB Vs the Post. Looks like RB has scored his first knock down punch and the post has managed to beat the count. Lets see how they hold up. Remember their insistence that Magande should be president and them backing Sata? This is what they wanted to avoid. Now yapena bola. As they say the Ref has swallowed the whistle.

    Secondly, the Nchitos and the POST are lawyers and have no clue about running an airline and mismanaged it and LPM was there to help them hide their mismanagement. Now that he is gone and the problems have started to show. I hope they go back to basics and fire that Nchito CEO and get a proper CEO.

  25. We in Zambia wre the pride of the skies in southern Africa . even kenya airwys had respect for Zambia airways , yes it had it own huge problems , but realy with all the assets it had world wide it could have easy delt withs its depts if realy given the chance to estructure ….Now even Air walai is shining for us …AIR MALAWI REAly …HOW.

  26. Too many middle men in Zambia resulting in the highest prices for fuel and many other things. British airways cargo threatend to end flights to zambia as they were unhappy passing on the parasitic prices of fuel in zambia to their customers. GRZ caved in and allowed BA to buy directly from indeni using one agent instaed of the 4 as was the case.

  27. Yaba. Nine Chalel-)

    I bet we will start going by ship to Zambia now.:d
    Ifintu tafilemoneka gudu.

    Guys 1 month to get to Zed now.

  28. Zambian Airways, just swallow your pride and file for bankruptcy protection now before creditors seize your assets. What restructuring?

    For those saying they should have been uplifting fuel in SA, first that compromises thier pay load (passengers/cargo) and also these guys were on cash basis with BP in Zambia so I doubt if they would have got credit facilities for Jet a1 in SA.

    Pure lack of risk management and airline business experience!

  29. Now to the Topic:
    Long overdue…but Sorry Magande is no longer Finance Minister. He had a detailed proposal of how GRZ could bailout the air-line for National pride. BUT, with public money being injected into a private airline, brought a lot of opposition from other ministers who opted for nature to take its course.

  31. That is sad news. I wonder how we will develop our tourism where we don´t have any local airline. I think our government should do something as they have thought of developing our tourism in the country. RB and his people should do something to solve the airline was was carrying the national flag ehhhhhhhhhhhh.

  32. :((:((:(( Elo lwanya,how am i going to come to Zed na katundu.At least zambia Airways was cheap mwati nifi SAA

  33. That is sad news. I wonder how we will develop our tourism if we don´t have any local airline. I think our government should do something as they have thought of developing our tourism sector in the country. RB and his people should do something to save the airline which is carrying our national flag ehhhhhhhhhhhh.

  34. Why are you all mourning like children this was not a national airline, it was a privately run airline company. This was inevitable no airline can survive on such lackluster travel routes . I remember when zambian airways was called Roan airways. The failure of the company had nothing to do with any of it’s famour directors like some of you think

  35. Its sad. Before Nchito was the CEO of Zambian Airways, the company was doing fine. To save the company Nchito should resign as CEO and reappoint the former CEO to head the company for the sake of the 260 employees.

  37. The problems of Zambian Airways has nothing to do with RB but rather due to probably (a) High fuel charges (b) Effects of world economic problems. Please learn to understand issues.

    Zambian Airways had these problems)failing to pay fees) even before recent elections. That is why they wanted Magande to be president because he had planned to waive the payment of fees.

  38. #26
    Could it has also been abuse of the resources of the business, such as free air-tickets for family tree etc..

  39. Don’t refer to Zambian Airways as a “National Airline” they are a private airline just like the other two, Pro Flight and Zambezi Airlines. The other airlines are still running!!!!

  40. #35 do not lie Roan Air was suffering even before the nchito’s stepped on to it, know your facts don’t be a kachepa. The nchito’s only provided capital and thought if they changed Road Air to zambian airways then that would revive the liquidated zambia airways . They failed terribly anyone with any foresight could have known that such was be the inevitable case

    Zambia will never have a national airline unless it is tax payer funded. This is why Zambia airways was liquidated because Chiluba and friends decided to withdraw funding into their own accounts.

  43. Marworld :d

    I have not followed the Zambian Airways situation closely so I will not be making a comment. Sad for you guys because anything cheap is really welcome especially now that ifintu fyashupa. na credit crunch.

  45. #24 spot on..
    Ths has bn a disaster n th waitin,thy hav bn runing ths busines almst 90% n credit..js hw cn tht be?thy were nt payin 4 fuel n time,service fees to NACL were overdue n exces of $2milion..and to cmpound it al,one of their share holderz goes n to fyt th zed Presida..elo workerz havnt bn paid n mnths…they ar basicaly bankrupt…ni liquadation fyee iyi…

  47. Its like we will just go back kuli CR though ama road…..anyway let me not scare you,actually I wanted to say ama road blocks :-j:-j:-j:-j:-j:-j

  48. Yes blame the global economic crisis for your mismanagement.Someone burnt meat yesterday and blamed it on the global economic crisis

  49. But kwena pa Zed!!!
    Ethiopia has an airline of its own, actually, we could be the only country in Africa without any form of an air-line. :d upon my foot

  50. #45 what has fighting the president got to do with Zambian Airways? We know African presidents are untouchable but really what has this got to do with it?

  51. 3RqU
    Nacibipa elo June ndefwaya ukuya bondi Zo-ona you know when visiting home you have to carry something for nieces,nephews,mbuyas,abafyashi.I really dont know Bus nayena twalinina sana from bu baby zo-ona? Ba Zambia Airways naimwe Zo-ona tupangeko ishina ati twenda ne ndeke mwaisala.

  52. 3RqU
    Nacibipa elo June ndefwaya ukuya bondi Zo-ona you know when visiting home you have to carry something for nieces,nephews,mbuyas,abafyashi.I really dont know Bus nayena twalinina sana from bu baby zo-ona? Ba Zambia Airways naimwe Zo-ona tupangeko ishina ati twenda ne ndeke mwaisala.

  53. #50
    Ar u in touch with wats bn hapenin n zambia,ths is a serious web…js watch as it unfolds…so mwana dig info nd u wil knw why i postd tht in number 45..

  54. SHUSHUSHU AND GIRDLOCK’D GUYS WHT DO U THINK..KU MOSCOW ZAMBIAN EMBASSY BALETAKO FYE ABA LOZI WHY?MULYOKELA KAPALA WENT AND AM TOLD AGAIN ITS A LOZI NAMAYO TO COME ,YASHANI KANSHI?
    BY THE WAY,TULEFOLA LILALI? 8-|8-|8-|

  56. Hello fellow bloggers!!

    Mutembo Nchito should just tell us the truth behind the suspension of the operations.The reasons he is citing does not hold any water because refuelling could be done in RSA where the prices of Jet fuel are reflective of the world oil prices.

  57. Damn! there goes the businessman’s most cost effective and quickest way of getting to and from SA and TZ

    Ba Boma, what are you going to do about this? Bailout plan?

  58. #53 You probably know better than I do but don`t you think it is just an African thing here? You don`t fight a president. Wrong or right!

  60. Casey Khisho

    Ico cintu mudala.I was disappointed when I discovered ati Malawian currency is stronger than Zedian.

  61. #49 Casey Khisho… Ethiopia has been running a profitable airline for decades and at one time was the only Airline in Africa making a profit.

  62. #52
    Matworld-Nice guy!
    Elo futi, nga twalands ati, twalatuma fye tuma something-something for nieces, uncles and anties, basendako tumo balya bene tule tuma, no twashala futi ba customs! Upon my dead body!

  65. #56 SHARP SHOOTER BOI..TULEFOLA LILALI???
    APA YALAKOSAKO BOI..I TOLD YOU OUR MOSCOW ADMINISTRATION IN FORM OF EMBASSY IS GETTING JUST LOZI’S THEN WALISHIBA WT THAT MEANS KAPALA….ELELANDAPO SHANI?DO U KNW AT BALILUNDAKO STIPEND BOI?U’LL GET HALF… :((:((:((

  66. #58
    True this an African thing,that is politicians squezing busineses..and tht is wat is hapenin wth ZA as at nw…hav u ever wondered furtha as to why upto nw in zed we stil hav to cmplain abt poor mobile phne services evn wen beta providas hav xpresd interest,thy ar stil chingered?Its political,do i nid to gve examples!i tink thy ar al ova…wth th nw defunct zambia airways,Govt wud hav savd it bt u may hav an ideal of th reasons thy js dnt wnt to..

  69. We require competent Zambian mangers who can survive regardless of the economic situation. This was not the case at Zambian Airways and hence the failure. Sad Indeed!

  76. # 65(Kipe Yayo).Ndeumfwa ati limbi pa 15 january kuti twapoka.Nali ku Embassy mu November nasangileko akamwaice akali pa UNAM(University of Namibia) ati aka Economic Secretary.Ne Chi Russ takaishiba. When i inquired further,i discoverrd that he is a relation to the Late Predido.The family tree continues. I hear PS at the Ministry of Foreign affairs is a lozi that explains everything.Baliitemwa(Tribalism at its worst).Boi ati balitulundila stipend? Olo futi ndeumfwa ati bakapulamo isha Passport iya new.

  78. # 34
    We are mourning becasue that airline helped many a local bussinesman, it was of great help to many of us travelling to neibouring countries. We have all the right to lament its demise in anywhich fashion we chose in this hear world of free expression.

  79. Thank you Papa J you know the truth. This is what we had been trying to tell all these Membe supporters. the man was just trying to protect his 2 million dollar investment which has now gone down the drain. They let macdonald go who was a good manager and Nchito took over as MD with no experience of managing a large organisation. what do u expect? they became greedy with taskforce money. Now let the audit be done for taskforce and u will see how many of your heroes will go to jail including membe and nchito

  80. this is what happens when a country 44 years old doesn’t have a national airline.we should be ashamed of ourselves. #:-s#:-s#:-s

  81. No need to bail out this thing [-x[-x[-x
    Using tax payers’ money, the govt should set up Zambia Airways again. This time with proper management.[-o< Zambia is paying for Chiluba's ill-conceived privatization policies :-w:-w:-w

  82. It would make more sense to help Zambezi Airlines which is not saddled with all the debts and complications Zambian Airways has. If Zambezi Airlines expands it can easily absorb the former workers of ZAMBIAN airways save for the CEO and other top mis-managers. WITH ZAMBEZI AIRLINES OUR TOURISM WILL NOT SUFFER. There is no justification for a bailout when there are other players in the industry run more efficiently who can fill the void.

  83. Zambian Airway is run like a fleet of minibuses. There is more to it. ZA get a qualified CEO , not a Chief Educational Officer:o

  86. he he If airlines have failed, lets try Zambian ox-cat ways to carry our flag or Zambia Sledge ways to drag our flag….am sick of this lack of seriousness. Obama is rolling out a plan to creat 4 Million jobs and we are busy clossing comapnies….Zambia, the Real Africa…true indeed! :((

  87. I do not think that there is a problem at all. What has happened to Zambian Airways has happened to many enterprises in history that are now household names. A family with a few close friends may start a business but it will not go very far without outsiders investing when it comes to international competitiveness. Heinz, Colgate, Body Shop etc had to move from being personal or family businesses to floating on the stock exchange. Zambian Airways may survive if it is floated on LUSE or even JSE. Zambians have the cash to buy into the company. Look at ZNBC and Zambia Sugar. It will then be a truly Zambian enterprise!

  88. bane mwebalelanda pali stipendi, im lost ni stipendi nshi iyo? kuno kwaba yabili, B.C na stipend iyine yine! ninshi niyisa tulelandapo? mwitwimya imitima ka!

  89. Global fuel market prices are comparatively better than in 2008.Its all dangerous incompetency and futureless fanatical politics of Fred Mmembe and his tutelage of unskilled self appointed business managers without risk management expertise.Since when did a lawyer become an expert business manager of a high risky entreprise? Just buy them out of business as we move to shift heavy resources into the tourism sector.Tourism will thrive with a none political front airline company owned by descent citizens.There are 5 Zambians willing to buyout the politicized embatled airline.US $125 million is available to vest on the spot understanding viability.

  90. SAD READING, ALL PROGRESSIVE ZEDIANS CAN WISH THIS AIRLNE GLAD TIDINGS.ONLY THE RELATIVES OF PLUNDERS ARE CELEBRATING.

  91. 88, and other Russian guys, good morning!!! Wow your comments are hilarious, you’ve made my day.. Stipend….Take care..

  93. # 92. Anonymous,

    Not a good business practice in ethical entreprises.Under such scenarios,temptation to conceal risks and engineer the company liquid status is very high to resist.

  97. It is a private company , how can you say the problem is he is the major shareholder .What private company do you know that doesn’t have the people that put it Capital being the heads of that company. The whole point of owning a private company is to have full and total control. If Zambian airways was a public company it would have to abide by corporate governance rules. Some of you should zip up when you are ignorant of financial matters because what you say is devoid of any common sense or intelligence. No private airline can survive in a climate where their only pool of resources comes from private sources. Thats where the nchito’s went wrong not nothing with being shareholders.

  99. I know not of any business owned by highly fanatical street political surrogates dedicated to insulting and subverting seating Governments instead of constructive criticism ever pulling out of calvary.I may be too much of a realist than idealist but i no not one country subsivient to insults and subversive acts.There is always systemic hands that choke fanatics.Mmembe’s street type of politics has no future.partnering with him is too big a risk unless you are risk neutral.

  101. Maybe a hybrid company half owned by government from tax payers money and half owned by investors would be the way to go. Kind of like the way Emirates airlines is run .Probably reviving the name zambia airways , the airline would concentrating on lucrative routes(china,london, america) and also expansion into cargo only airplanes . This move would need more than just nchito money . But right now the airline industry is in a wheelchair so not many are willing to invest in it.

  102. It is not surprising that this airline has gone under. This airline could not survive because their protector Levy is no more. This economic meltdown is going to review a lot of skeletons. The Prosecutors will soon become the accused. God has a way of punishing hypocrites. The Nchitos, Post Newspapers, Chiluba, Mwanawasa among others schemed to destroy ZNOC, thinking that was the way to reduce oil prices in Zambia. What has happened, Fuel is more expensive than it was ever during the ZNOC times, Total Indeni has unexplained debt of US$300 million. The sins of all of you are now catching up. You will all join Bulaya and Richard Sakala. Real corruption fight will one day happen under Sata.

  103. It is amazing the amount of ignorance. Arlines worldwide are having trouble. The ignoromous instead of seeking expert opinion are busy exposing their ignorance ! Typical Zambian level of analysis. Inonge even thinks you buy fuel daily. There are year long supply contracts. Airlines are stuck with last year’s contracts. The new price will be reflected in contracts concluded now !

  104. You can only refuel a plane from point of departure. Actually when you reach a destination with a lot of fuel you’re required to purge as much as you can! Govt. needs to step in and extend some sort of credit for a stake in the company. At this time we need every bit of economy to function i.e. tourism, mining, agriculture etc. If the govt. is willing to prop up the mines, why not the airline industry?

  106. I see their creditors going for their assets as a way to recover. The airline was too quick to introduce routes without sufficient equipment to run those routes effectively. I ve personally experienced on several occassions delays of more than 7 hours and several instances where I received my luggage after 3 days. Let the airline pay their debts and then be more efficient and effective in business. Partnering is another solution.:-?

  108. ZAMBIA A COUNTRY WITH UNRECOGNIZED POTENTIAL

    We need a presido with a vision God help us.
    Each time I look at the map of Africa I imagine Zambia to be so strategically placed for the air line indusry. The geographical location of our beloved country makes it a potential nation for this industry. sorruonded by 8 countries which are just less than an 1Hour flying from the capital Lusaka I think we cant go wrong to make a masive investment in this industry. Demolishing that airstrip you call lusaka internationer airport and putting up a world class airport can change the economy of Zambia. Can we do it? Yes we can.

  109. #103 you write “It is amazing the amount of ignorance…” “Airlines are stuck with last year’s contracts” don’t mislead people, you are the one who is ignorant.
    Only airlines who hedged are stuck with those contracts but they were hardly affected when oil was on the upswing,that’s ‘hedgeing101′
    You also say “Inonge even thinks you buy fuel daily” in Zambian Airways’ case Inonge is right, they were on a cash basis with BP Zambia, their credit facilities were withdrawan. If that pump truck you see next to their airline shows up, there was a cheque ready or else no fuel. They even started using NAC’s airport tax money to sustain operations. GRZ should never throw good money after bad!

  110. # 104 why on earth would you want to purge fuel at your destination when you well within the landing limitations from a flight .. you only purge fuel if your take of weight exceeds your landing , which is the case with most commercial planes , they can take of much heavier than they can can land ..(.wing stress levls ) , now if after a take off you have an emergency and cannot continue your flight and need to land asap only then do you purge fuel come within your landing limitations

  111. #109(dark Knight).
    Let me start by saying good morning or is it good night that side! Your explation and analysis is reflective of what was happening on the ground concerning ZA.

    Coming to #108. I feel you when it comes to our Airport infrastructure. After seeing airports like Frankfurt,Amsterdam,Hearthrow,Cairo and indeed in the nearby Johannesburg Main and Oliver Tambo in SA, I was very displeased at the sight of Our so called international airport.It doesnt befit the status and if that isnt enough, the place is always deserted and looks like an airstrip in Mumbwa.If we are really serious with tourism,we must begin with airport infrastructure.

  112. #103 Please don’t misquote me out of context.I did not even write the word daily in my post.I was replying to #7.I may not know how to fly a plane or run an airline business but I know a good business when I see one and Zambia Airways wasn’t on my list of good businesses. For instance how do you let shareholders fly for free. ?I have shares in MTN but I still can’t make free calls and I have shares in Shoprite but I still don’t walk in a shoprite store and pick free groceries.

  113. why do you think the bus industry is thriving , and seem to have the latest buses on the planet , .. it because these buses not only offer a supirior comfort level they also do one other thing , that is they bur far less fuel than the old UBZ style buses , thecost more yes but you gain lon tearm by far on running costs.
    so why on eart do zambian companies like to settle for over used abused rejected planes such as the 737 200
    these things are serious fuel gazolers , just spend afew mil more and get the fuel economy 737 700.

  114. thats why in them old days …Zambia airways stoped using the DC 8 for cargo in turn bought the b 757 that plane saved them millions on fuel , and thats why they wrer going to get the MD 11 to compliment the DC 10 30 another fuel gazoler coz the md 11 would burn less fuell by far covering the same distance , ther are alot of ways to save on fuel but zambian airlines some how manage to do the revers …. rememvber the 737’s aero zambia had let me tell you a scary story about one of them

  115. people … Google these words on your google serch engine. Aloha flight 243 … you will see a boing 737 that had a mid flight decompression crisis due to old age of the 737 and this 737 was at least opperating 10 years past its service lifespan.

    the the ubelivable happend… theis same exact 737 was fixed up and sold …..to who u wonder…Aero zambia yes aero zambia bouhgt this death trap, and we zambians wer happy go lucky in the skies with this rejected airplane . we fly in these old yet looking good antiques withought a clue how many lives they took in the past

  116. Its difficult to contribute i=on this issue because it requires hands-on experience in the aviation sector lest you expose your ingnorance like Boma Inonge.

  117. #113 you are right. Cheap is expensive in the long run. I wonder why Zambian Airways never got small new planes like Bombardier Q400 Dash 8 Turboprop. These planes are among the most efficient aircraft in the skies, using only 64% of fuel per seat compared to the average plan and a small regional airline here in south Africa called South Africa Express is moving towards them and they made a profit last year because of using fuel efficient crafts. I think Zambian Airways just need right management who understand the business

  118. Give them a bailout GRZ! they’ve been reppin 4 us and are zambian owned. or else pipo will lose jobs and foreign flights will continue to get yo money

  121. #No bailout, let them list on LuSE and raise the cash. “If CELTEL/ZAIN DID IT, WHY CAN’T THEY DID IT?”,Grey Zulu

  125. My heart goes out to the Zambian Airways Management and all their staff, Yes fuels prices went up all over the world but Zambia is one of the most expensive Countries in Southern Africa to do business in, Zambia has higher fuel prices and high taxes which are not good for business hence the higher prices passed on to the consumers which also creates unemployment.

  126. I remember when I was in Zambia working as Finance Director to one of the International Companies. We told the govt to shut the refinery and use it for storage as it is much cheaper to import refined products. You can easily knock off 45% cost from the current prices. This would go a long way in reducing the cost to various sectors in the Zambian economy. However, the govt would like to continue to support INDENI and it is difficult for any aviation company to survive.

  127. An old adage do not mix politics with business,its water and cooking oil they will always separate.Sad for Zambian Airways,you cannot keep on insulting the head that is supposed to feed you or bail you out and expect to survive.Dora Siliya blew the whistle even differed with Magande,we were just waiting for this to happen anyway.How many privately owned Tutembas in Zambia are going burst everyday?no Government bail out?lets not waste Government money on this we can do with ubwato to Zambia if it comes to that.Unless monitored change of management is put in place tax payers money must not be risked for this?its just as good as corruption as someone miss managed.Rest my case.

  128. I hope no one is falling for this story of High fuel! Please!!! We know wat exactly is happening! Let them just pay what they owe to ceaser also known as ‘Nyama Soya’s government’ and maybe then they will be back online. Also they had better pay back all the passengers they messed up. How do you just suddenly cancle flights without warning??? Any typical of them! Next…..Post Newspaper – watch out!

  130. Ba Maureen!! 110 actualy wanted to say “you only purge fuel if your Landing weight exceeds Take-off weight”

    Landing weight must be less than take-off one of the reasons being that an aircraft requires a ROBUST STRUCTURE to absorb the impact of landing. The fuels are mainly in the wings and when fully loaded with fuel, the aircraft structure is not fully robust.For safety you have to be able to get rid of fuel/payload quickly in an emergency.

  131. 130 continued, For instance Max take off weight for an A380 is 560 tonnes, Maximum landing weight is 386 tonnes. So when an aircraft takes off at Max take off weight and develops a fault soon after with its weight way above 380 tonnes, its has to get rid of some fuels so as to bring the weight down to acceptable weight of 380tonnes

  132. Everything boaders on leadership.We have no systems in this country. Roads are terrible, farmers are crying of high fertilizer prices, poor state of infrastructure, lack of compelling and visionary leadership.

  133. It would be irresponsible for Govt to consider bailing out such an already crippled airline. Its to deep in debt, it hardly owns any planes as the fleet is used are owned by the financiers or are on lease. Their current problems where not that it was not operating viably but that financial resources were misapplied by for instance buying a fleet of saloon cars and buses which added no value to the operations of the airline. Further still an alliance with the POST Newspapers was counterproductive in which POST staff could even fly for free to any Zambian Airways destination for personal trips.

  134. [continued from 133] Id rather support be given to Zambezi Airways which seem to be making progress despite the harsh economic situation. They recently advertised for new crew members for additional aircrafts and routes they will be operating. We can only hope they have learnt something from the Zambian Airways experience and do not come to heavily saddled in debt. For now they should be smiling as they can now take their pick of Zambian Airways staff, routes and other assets which will soon be on the market. Eventually they may just qualify to be a next flag carrier.

  136. #54 and 65, you are a cheap tribalist. Who doesent know how most of you chaps in Russia got there? If other tribes fill a whole ministry its ok when its others its tribalism. Grow up and have a life!

  137. I am grateful for the well informed comments on this subject. Some comments however, boarder on idiocy, obviously but the majority are good. I have no knowledge about the goings on but I would really like Zambian Airways to survive, notwithstanding my disgust at some newspaper. We need competition. I believe that the Nchitos are honourable men. They probably got into bed with the wrong guys (no inuendo here) but it was a desperate situation. They should never have allowed The Post to be their mouthpiece. It is normal for private companies to lobby govts, but never though the press. In the US EVERYONE is wishing Obama well, but in Zambia…katwishi!

  138. Maureen 110 may benefit from playing with flight simulators on her computer to learn a bit about aviation. It is not much.

  139. Well well well……
    Surely collapse of an enterprise such as Zambian airways makes sad reading, but i suppose they engaged wrong partners the Post who despite being shareholders, didnt practice business entiquete, hence bring the airline into the firing range to any one who did nt like them, you dont just reveal data anyhow to the press if you are a board member. But anyway i feel sorry to Mmembe $2m investment in ZA wasted after heavily borrowing from banks,… my God. WATCH OUT THE BAILIFFS AT THE POST.

  141. No. 140 life_life. The cost to the economy will not be there if more efficient airlines like Zambezi Airlines are instead encouraged to expand and flourish. Bailing out Zambian Airways would disadvantage efficient and properly run airlines like Zambezi Airlines. Why allow Zambian go about not paying for services from National Airports, Indeni etc whilst you want others to compete with them whilst paying? Think of damage to National Airports who have not had access to their US$2M- airports and airstrips arround the country need to be upgraded but Zambian Airways is starving NACL the money to do this. Zambezi Airlines will expand and cushion the number of job losses.

  142. It all known, this guys are just gone and finished. I suspect LPM hard shares in Zambian Airways but at his death Moureen Asked to pull the share just to avoid probing, this could even be the same thing with Zambezi portland and ZOT ( remember the contravesial oil Company. This Nchito Guy was over protected by the ref. its time he absorbed the punches himself. The stories on fuel should not stand because yesterday the plane which was due to fly to SA at 0600 frm Ndola didnt but flew to lusaka at about 1500hrs with only the crew leaving the Ndola/ Lusaka passengers behind. Whats the logic? Employees have not been paid for close to six months. Ka Nchito is just a planderer too.

  143. Anyone Remember DAS Air Cargo? They used to fly into Zambia 4 times a week to bring in and pick up cargo from Zambia. That was between 1998 and 2004. They stopped flying into Zambia in 2004 the same year British Airways cargo stopped. They both pointed out that Jet fuel in Zambia was 100% more expensive compared to their other destinations. Zambian Airways had also resorted to carrying Jet fuel on flights from South Africa. Seems this has proved uneconomical. Those who are waffling on this blog should educate themselves about the tax regime on petroleum products in Zambia. May be, just may be U’ll understand that an Airline industry will never be viable in Zambia even a state run one.

  144. No.143 Tau Tou Wa Lealui, could you explain how the other airlines are managing to still fly in and out of Zambia. Why is it that Zambian Airways could not do what they do? Zambezi Airways their direct competitor is expanding rather than contracting. This may help me to stop “waffling”.

  145. # 119 BA Maureen firstly i will give you some definitions to give you a beter idea of what i am saying…..Some definitions:
    Maximum Design Taxi Weight (MTW).
    Maximum weight for ground maneuver as limited by aircraft strength and airworthiness requirements. (It includes weight of taxi and run-up fuel.)

    Maximum Design Takeoff Weight (MTOW).
    Maximum weight for takeoff as limited by aircraft strength and airworthiness requirements. (This is the maximum weight at start of the takeoff run.)

    Maximum Design Landing Weight (MLW).
    Maximum weight for landing as limited by aircraft strength and airworthiness requirements. Maximum Design Zero Fuel Weight (MZFW). Maximum weight allowed be

  146. they will not get back into business No.5 cos they have beef with the govt,its the end for them and they owe alot in airport taxes….

  147. #119 Ba Maureen
    the stress load impacted on a plane when taking off is far less that that when a plane is landing , ,If an a/c touched down at a weight beyond its MLW airframe stress, wrinkling of the aluminum skin, bending of structures, rupture of the fuel cells (in the wings) or even a failure of the landing gear could occur. If an aircraft does return for landing and for whatever reason is overweight upon touchdown, it must be throughly inspected by mechnics for damage before it is returned to service.
    this can be very very costly for an airline .

  148. # 119 and # 122 dark night

    in zambian english . consider u have a vannet , a toyota vannet , you load it up with sand ,you ging to build a mansion for the two of you clowns ..this vannet is so full tha tail end is close to touching the groung you have by now exceeded the load for you van ,..But it wil drve just fine slowly you on you way you pick up speed ..zoom zoom your fine ..sudenly you encounter a luska style speed hump, you cant slow down in time so you zoom over it your van is suspended in mid air for a milli second . what do you think will happen next when the full load cmes baring down on the poor springs … thats called exceeding your stress load from 1 G to 2 G,s ..

  149. # 119 & 122

    i supose you tow clowns biulding a mansion in kalingalinga will ask me what i mean by 1 G and 2 G,s
    firstly is not money..
    0 g.s your in space floating like a baloon wwith helium 1 g is what we live in day to day , 2 g’s is the force you feel the moment the elevator starts to accend ( meaning going up) at that moment if you wight 80 kg,s which i am sure you do ba maureen , at that very moment the elevator accends you weigh 160 kg ..thats stress load .. ohh by the g means gravetational pull . I rest may case your majesty

  150. kambudula bamba u are so learned am impressed,l hope we understand it, but l think u should simplfy it by adding a,e,i,o,u……

  151. # 138 Virtual captain

    funny you mention that i do rather have the latest version of flight sim by microsoft i play on my 60 inch LCD with the flight controls an all it cost me just under $ 400 , but I however also have a skylane C172 I bought second hand from flight safety in a hunger i rent for 600 $ month at our local FBO and yes I am Zambian… black pure mumbwa mumbwa

  152. I am worried that this has happened after Finance Bank debt in Zambia Airways was transfered to Development Bank of Zambia. I smell corruption in this nonsense. There was a scheme to protect Finance Bank and put public funds in DBZ intead at risk. Can The Post Newspapers, The Nchitos, Finance Bank and DBZ Management explain and assure the Zambian people that DBZ funds in Zambian Airways are safe. DBZ should also explain why they entered into a deal mealt to protect Finance Bank while puting public funds at risk. The specific corrupt DBZ transaction in Zambia Airways need to be investigated.

  153. This came to right during the last presidential Election. This is the reason people wanted the other side of the coin. Luck enougth the riging power had all, and people will now know the truth. Go RB GO RB

  155. ZA embarked on flying with gas guzzling Boeing 737-200 which you can lease for almost nothing because no one wants them anymore. That’s why they can’t afford the fuel bills and these others using turbo props and economic planes can. Poor managment, they should file for bankruptcy now 😕

  156. Problem with these lawyer boys who make a few billions from task force & all of a sudden think they can run an airline. This entity could’nt even generate sufficient cashflows from their business cycle but instead depended on heavy borrowing. I hope this can be used as a case study for our business students at CBU…

  157. pity for Investrust who lent these johers mad cheddar, not forgetting the morons at DBZ who swapped their loan for useless shares! Almost forgot about pompous Fred Mmembe who wasted $3m of Post profits into this titanic. The only winner from this was Rajan Mahtani, who initially arranged the loan syndication but sold off his exposure before it was too late (typical indian shrewdness)…

  158. pity for Investrust who lent these jokers mad cheddar, not forgetting the morons at DBZ who swapped their loan for useless shares! Almost forgot about pompous Fred Mmembe who wasted $3m of Post profits into this titanic. The only winner from this was Rajan Mahtani, who initially arranged the loan syndication but sold off his exposure before it was too late (typical indian shrewdness)…

  159. From Zambian watchdog… NAC to grab Zambian airways planes
    On Thursday January 8, the Zambia National Airports Corporation (NAC) handed to Muntembo Nchinto, CEO of Zambian Airways court summons to settle a bill of US$200 million; on saturday, January 10, Zambian Airways suspended all operations leaving scores of passengers for local and international routes stranded.

    In a memo at the Lusaka International airport, Mr. Nchito cited high fuel costs over the last year-and-a-half and the need to restructure its operations. He said the rise in the cost of jet fuel by 100 percent in the last 18 months, increased its operational costs by 50 percent.

    “This created a lot of problems for Zambi

  160. for Zambian Airways as a growing business. In the interest of our stakeholders and our employees, we have decided with immediate effect to suspend all our operations until further notice,” He said.

    But the Watchdog has learned that the real reason for suspending operations is the court summons. The NAC, it has been learned that the Q3 has no capacity to settle the debt as it has been failing to do so for a long time now and the debt keeps on swelling.

    It is rumoured that the airline started experiencing financial difficulties after President Mwanawasa died. It is said that, and was reported in the media last year that President Mwanawasa’s regime had ordered all people traveling on go

  161. government business should use Zambian Airways. But the new government has since withdrawn this ’service’.

    The NAC, it has been learned, wants a court order authorizing it to use bailiffs to seize and sell the planes to recover its money.

    The problem maybe compounded by the fact that the planes used by Zambian Airway

  162. Where is captain Godfrey Mulundika? That man can help save our Airline. If Chiluba hadn’t distuurbed our real Zambia Airways, all these problems wouldn’t be there. Trusting thieves with lradership can destroy a country. Reminds me of the old stories we used to read at primary school : A good farm is spolied by a f**lish businessman.

  163. #162 Mulundika is a pilot with kenya airways now, a mere pilot he did better things than MBA MDs preceeding him or after him. He just became too pompous for KK and Panji.

  165. #163, thank you for the information. What worries me is when personal issues crop into professional roles, it really annoys me. Panji had no responsibility in Zambia except being a son of a President and he should be nowhere near professionals like Captain Godfrey Mulundika. They should not vene mates or people who have anything to do with each other. Panji was simply a street adult in my view, what else?

  166. We zambians have proved to the world that we cant run businesses.I too like other bloggers do not buy this fuel story SAA has about 3 flights daily to lusaka if fuel was such a cost i believe they would have cut on the number of flights.I may not know how to run a business but Zambian Airways just got caught in this zedian thing of “zimya neighbour” or “kulibonesha”.They bought a fleet of vehicles and buses as one blogger has said of what use are these to the business of flying.In as much as job creation is good for the country they should not have employed personel e.g in sales they could have been selling tickets online at a minimal cost rather than renting premises and paying salaries.

  167. Zambia has gone from a ‘shinning star’ in Africa just a year ago to the ‘Sinking Titanic’ today…………. those words seem firmiliar. How times change.

  168. GUys i have always sed this, and i will say it Again….. Africans CAN NOT run anything properly!!! weather its at social level, political level or at Economic level.

    ITS SAD!!!!

  170. No. 167, So has the UK and the USA – what exactly is your point? Bigger companies that little Z-Airways have gone bust, and there are not all run by Africans!

  171. No. 167,

    So has the UK and the USA – what exactly is your point? Bigger companies than little Z-Airways have gone bust, and there are not all run by Africans!

  174. RB let them close it not even suspending it. am bringing a new airlin myself were i will have shares. as president i believe in indeco. we shall form ours this was for LT. Come on boys cut-mashimba and muloti pole we are now safe. musokotwane tie them had that they should not come to life. the hour is working. as Pf we say fyakulolavye

  176. bane dont blame amaguyz they tried. every air industry needs the support of the goverment. now the nation is stranded. the govt is happy. magande was avoiding this in trying to reinforce the operations. Banda naka siliya akaliule kachabechabe started ukubosa. people of zedi MMD yayasana. teti balechita mix politics an economics. nomba we are stranded. some of you u have not been at the airport for the past years. manje ni zii. no plane at least zam airways was repeatedly allowing announcments. manje nikaya kwanya manje. ati tourism no ndeke fuseki chibanda naka gel kobe kanamugala. bweshe ndeke if u are serious. awe ine chanibaba

  182. Nganaibbukisha pa lsk airport,(DC10), (DC8), (2 ATR 42) (2 BOEING 737) Awe pa Africa naifwe epo twali, Nomba ukufumapofye ba KK nafyonse fyaya mumenshi, katwishi ninshi chalengele, pale moneka bwino pa airport mwandini, ubuchushi bumo awe tabwawama, Ba Banda chiteniko ifya mano,~X([-x=)):o:o:o:o:o:o@-)@-)@-)

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