Friday, March 29, 2024

Proflight Boeing 737 launch and maiden flight in pictures

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Proflight Zambia welcomed the latest addition to its fleet on Monday May 13 when its 105-seater Boeing 737-200 aircraft touched down at Kenneth Kaunda
International Airport in Lusaka.The twin-engine jet plane marks an historic development for Zambia’s only scheduled airline, and will almost double the carrier’s seating capacity.
The aircraft will operate on Proflight’s routes from Lusaka to Livingstone and Ndola and has enabled the airline to reduce fares to KR250 one-way or KR500 return for tickets on those routes booked at least 14 days in advance.

The 737-200 can fly at speeds of up to 780kph, compared with the current maximum speed of 546kph of the Jetstream 41 aircraft, reducing flight times
significantly. Its cargo capacity will enable Proflight to offer increased baggage allowances on routes operated with the 737.

Proflight Zambia’s 105-seat Boeing 737-200 aircraft made its maiden flight to Livingstone yesterday (May 15), with VIP and celebrity passengers helping the airline celebrate the introduction of its new aircraft.

Fares:

One-way fares

Lusaka to Chipata – KR700
Lusaka to Kasama – KR1,025
Lusaka to Mansa – KR855
Kasama to Ndola – KR650
Ndola to Mansa – KR555
Ndola to Kasama via Lusaka – KR1,025
Mansa to Ndola via Lusaka – KR855
Ndola to Livingstone via Lusaka – KR630
Ndola to Lower Zambezi via Lusaka – KR670
Solwezi to Livingstone via Lusaka – KR720
Fares include all charges except NACL taxes of K58 per flight.

1.

Proflight Zambia's 105-seat 737 aircraft, parked in Lusaka behind three of the airline's other planes
Proflight Zambia’s 105-seat 737 aircraft, parked in Lusaka behind three of the airline’s other planes

2.

Proflight Zambia's 737-200 aircraft touchesdown in Lusaka for the first time
Proflight Zambia’s 737-200 aircraft touches down in Lusaka for the first time

3.

Proflight Zambia staff  welcome the arrival of airline's 737-200 aircraft in Lusaka
Proflight Zambia staff welcome the arrival of the airline’s 737-200 aircraft in Lusaka

4.

Proflight Zambia Chief Pilot Capt. Gerald Tembo
Proflight Zambia Chief Pilot Capt. Gerald Tembo

5.

PROFLIGHT Zambia newly introduced 105 passenger plane lands safely in Livingstone for the first time. Above is a plane on the middle of the fire engines during the official launch at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone
PROFLIGHT Zambia newly introduced 105 passenger plane lands safely in
Livingstone for the first time. Above is a plane on the middle of  a spray from the
fire engines during the official launch at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula
International airport in Livingstone

6.

PROFLIGHT Zambia newly introduced 105 passenger plane lands safely in Livingstone for the first time. Above is a plane on the middle of the fire engines during the official launch at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone
PROFLIGHT Zambia newly introduced 105 passenger plane lands safely in Livingstone for the first time.

7.

 Proflight Zambia's Director of Government and Industry Affairs Capt. Philip Lemba (left) and Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing Hon. Nicholas Banda on board the airline's 737 aircraft
Proflight Zambia’s Director of Government and Industry Affairs Capt. Philip Lemba (left) and Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing Hon. Nicholas Banda on board the airline’s 737 aircraft

8.

ocal government Deputy minister Nicholas Banda (l ) shakes hands with Senior chief Mukuni (in white cap)of Toka leya inside the plane while government and Industry Affairs  Director Captain Phil Lemba (r)  looks on at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport
Local government Deputy
minister Nicholas Banda (l ) shakes hands with Senior chief Mukuni
(in white cap)of Toka leya inside the plane while government and
Industry Affairs Director Captain Phil Lemba (r) looks on at Harry
Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport

9.

SENIOR Chief Mukuni of the Toka- leya speaking people in southern province takes a look at the inside of the plane. This during the first successful official landing of Proflight Zambia 105 passenger plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone
SENIOR Chief Mukuni of the Toka- leya speaking people in southern
province takes a look at the inside of the plane. This during the
first successful official landing of Proflight Zambia 105 passenger
plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone

10.

LIVINGSTONE City Town Clerk  Vivian Chikoti ( front) The post Reporter Edwin Mbulo  take a look at the interior of the newly Proflight 105 passenger plane. This was during the first official landing of the plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone
LIVINGSTONE City Town Clerk Vivian Chikoti ( front) The post Reporter
Edwin Mbulo take a look at the interior of the newly Proflight 105
passenger plane. This was during the first official landing of the
plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone

11.

Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing Hon. Nicholas Banda (left) with Proflight Zambia's Director of Government and Industry Affairs Capt. Philip Lemba.
Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing Hon. Nicholas Banda (left) with Proflight Zambia’s Director of Government and Industry Affairs Capt. Philip Lemba.

12.

GOVERNMENT and Industry Affairs Director Captain Phil Lemba (in grey jacket) makes toast. This was during the first official landing of a 105 Proflight passenger plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone
GOVERNMENT and Industry Affairs Director Captain Phil Lemba (in grey
jacket) makes a toast. This was during the first official landing of a
105 Proflight passenger plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International
airport in Livingstone

13.

LOCAL Government deputy minister Nicholas Banda (l ) and government and Industry Affairs  Director Captain Phil Lemba (r ) talk to each other. This was during the first successful official landing of 105 Proflight passenger plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport in Livingstone yesterday.
LOCAL Government deputy minister Nicholas Banda (l ) and government
and Industry Affairs Director Captain Phil Lemba (r ) talk to each
other. This was during the first successful official landing of 105
Proflight passenger plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International
airport in Livingstone yesterday.

14.

Senior Chief Mukuni and Livingstone town clerk Vivian Chikoti (middle) witness the arrival of a new Proflight plane at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone
Senior Chief Mukuni and Livingstone town clerk Vivian Chikoti (middle) witness the arrival of a new Proflight plane at Harry Mwaanga
Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone

15.

 Dignitaries and celebrities celebrate the inaugural flight of Proflight Zambia's B737 aircraft in Livingstone
Dignitaries and celebrities celebrate the inaugural flight of Proflight Zambia’s B737 aircraft in Livingstone

69 COMMENTS

    • Unbelievable, I just sent money to my oldest brother, tabaninapo ndeke sure. I tried to buy online ticket and surprise him but Proflight isn’t offering that service yet.
      KABIMBA, MUTEMBO & Mmembe will hang themselves for their stolen money they failed to run an airline.
      Unfortunately and only bad coincidence ProFlight is abbriv s P.F. So spoiling forfakisake.

    • The Boeing 737-200 is a 1968 model , hence those being run by proflight are refurbished, the new 737 next generation comprise of 600, 700, 800, 900ER

    • buti kwena mulinkoko ba mambala imwe, all these guys are fat sure? i can only see about 4-5 big women in the picture. and the rest are actually small sized women and dont even bring the arguement of saying it depends on what you consider to be big or small. fact is they are not all fat. why do you always want to bring down your own kind. am sure imbeciles like you prefer white women if you are not already married to them.

    • Uli Chipuba iwe weni atase.so what if they are fat,as long as they got a job…limbi u are a sick thin person so wakumbwa ukwena…for u yourself kanti pantu kanapulika!!!!

    • Silly ones never get jobs in Zambia, they are called destitute and kamushi. A fat in Zambia mean “educated” or “rich”. On fat people get promoted.
      They even ask ati “when did you graduate, because namwina mwee”.

    • COMPARE SOLWEZI-L/STONE AND LSK-CHIPATA. THATS A RAW DEAL FOR EASTERN PROVINCE COZ THERE IS ONLY A DIFFERENCE OF K20 AND TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE TRIP DISTANCES OF BOTH TRIPS

  1. This is a better aircraft than those crop dusters

    keep it up

  2. So will have people like Ndobo condeming the move, saying its a waste of money.. Katwisha mwabashani mwebantu imwe. This so nice, now i can plan my vacation to Northern Province and watch the sunset with my beautiful girl at the banks of Lake tanganyika on a Friday, then fly back to Lsk in time for some dancing on Saturday. Ni down.. Chi Ndobo uichindike

    • CORRECTION – HH does not have shares in PROFLIGHT. ITS A POLITICAL PARTY , ITS JUST A COMPANY ACCOMMODATING EVERYONE!!

  3. Almost £85 to Chipata for a one-way ticket… flying ain’t cheap within Zambia…I would fly all over Europe with that amount of money on a budget airline. If I were to launch an airline company in Zambia I would rid off most luxuries and adopt a low-cost carrier business model (a lower operating cost structure). To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, my airline would charge for extras like food, alcohol, priority boarding, seat allocating, and baggage etc.
    Gov’t should focus solely on airport infrastructural revamping/expansion and reducing the costs of flying for local private airlines like Proflight within Zambia to encourage local tourism. Banish any thought of creating a national airline with taxpayer’s money.

    • And with what money do you think Government can do all that??? Coz you are the same people crying over the removal of subsidies

    • I support fully the removal of subsidies in fact in relation to Jet fuel the commercial sector was benefiting massively from it at our expense….imagine this we were subsidising rich foreign airline’s fuel for likes of KLM, Emirates and BA.
      Where do you think the gov’t is going to get US$520 million to construct the new-look Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport just approved by Parley? From the selfsame fiscal space left by the removal of subsidies.

    • Iwe what about the cost of fuel. the prices are ok given that they need to recover the initial capital investment and they do not have any competitors at the moment in Zed. We want this airline to work i wish them all the best but they should paint the flag on the tail when they are successful

  4. Sad,so sad indeed! Zambia Airways had this type of aircraft from the early eighties and yet here we are treating it as a big deal. Even Zambezi Airlines had a more modern 737. Ethiopian Airlines, that airline from that confused state, has just taken delivery of the B787 dreamliner and we are still fussing about a 737-200.Also, isn’t some sort of underutilising this aircraft by just using it on local short trips, why not include JHB and Dar for a start?

    • You are asking why everyone gets excited except you? It is because they realise that is an upgrade on the ProFlight fleet. But some of you are retards such that you cannot notice the difference.

  5. These are decommissioned aircrafts where they come from. This so called new plane is simply salaula and for that reason a danger to the safety of Zambian passengers. I know what I am talking about. Look at the state of the interior of the planes that British airways or Emirates use on Zambian routes compared to those that operate trans-Atlantic – UK to New York for example. I have seen the difference as I often take these routes. The people who sale these planes to us are simply saying, “here, go hang yourself but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Maybe some people have forgotten but some of us haven’t recovered from the shock of the Gabon Disaster. We can do better than this. Stop buying planes on Salaula.

    • Most small airlines do not buy air-crafts they lease them even the big airline companies like BA, KLM have leased air-crafts in their fleets at high peaks. The problem you people is that you think that running an airline is similar to running a Lusaka to Ndola bus company. This is the selfsame reason you are calling for a state owned national airline as you have no concept whatsoever of how expensive it is.
      Wake up!!

    • Domestic planes and international planes tend to be different my friend. I fly domestic within the US like every other week. The planes are deplorable on even the biggest airlines (American Airlines, Delta US Airlines etc). The only ones that are fairly decent and NEW are Virgin America. So I am not buying your argument based on your comparison between International flights and domestic Zambian flights.

  6. Congratulations. Next time I am in Zambia, I will go to Livingstone on Proflight Zambia. Improves travel within Zambia. Can PF boast of Proflight Zambia, creating jobs.

    • Northerner please spare us bu fontini. Pro-flight has been there for ages. PF was not even a thought in President Satas mind when proflight first flew.

  7. Regardless, it is a step forward, this is what the company can afford at the present moment. A lot of haters commenting on here. I think this is a story we can all agree is moving us forward no matter how little that movement may be.

  8. “The ‘obsolete’ version Boeing 737-200 has either been banned or phased out in many countries of the world.It includes the United States, while the EU has banned many airlines from Africa and Asia, which still use this aircraft”. Can the govt and national airports look into this very seriously.

  9. CONGRATULATIONS, WELL DONE THOUGH COLORS REPRESENT NOTHING ABOUT ZAMBIA. NEVERTHELESS WE SALUTE YOU?? GOOD DEVELOPMENT & KEEP UP.

  10. why is a flight to livingtone from solwezi cheaper than a flight from lusaka to chipata?
    PLEASE REDUCE THE FARE TO CHIPATA FROM THE CURRENT K700 TO SOMETHING ELSE COZ SLW TO LSTNONE IS K720

  11. Ba mambala mupanga chongo. There’s no need to invest in a 787 considering the routes serviced by Proflight. This is a sensible small airline. You quacks better lay off and continue wiping bums

  12. Whoa! the launch of one obsolete aircraft attracts big headlines in Zambia? We that poor really?

  13. Nothing to celebrate about…A B737-200 is very very old airplane 1968 or so. Zambezi airline had a B737-500 and the ‘late’ Zambia Airways had B737-200A(advanced).

  14. ba Infidels Baghdad Zulu i am sure you drive a second hand car from japan. that’s the way it is. A new plane costs an arm and a leg, just like a new car so what do you do? You buy second hand ha ha ha

  15. ka chief mukuni ukutemwa ifya kukwela kwela,nakambi kakanye,this tym nimu ndeke,chawamafye the plain never took off paaaantu!!!

  16. Zambia Airways and Zambezi Airlines didnt ‘have’ this type of aircraft as is being stated by most bloggers. I even doubt whether proflight own the plane reported on here. Our reporters dont dig enough. Zambia Airways used leased jets except for a few Hawker Siddeleys. Proflight most likely have had this one leased to them

  17. Wonderful to see! Proflight, a Zambian success story, owned by Zambians! Why are people are leaving negative comments? you should be encouraging and supporting Zambian owned Companies, and whats more, there are no politics involved!!

  18. I hope this company Proflight fails so that my company (still in the birth stages) can fill the void and my Zamani airlines can copmete with those two east african giants.

  19. this is what we should be celebrating. don’t listen to those who don’t want us to have our own national airline. kk airport need grass to be cut. do these guys have anything to cut grass with?#31 your vision will die with you.

  20. Well done ProFlight Airlines,nice to see a homegrown zambian success as the corporate scene in zed has been a litany of foreign entities.

    # 31 keep dreaming,you probably don’t even have a decent car or a hse of your own.

  21. If you look at the cabin pictures of the plane, you may get a clue about its origin (whether purchased or leased) There is the word ‘SALIDA’ next to ‘EXIT’. Salida is exit in Spanish.

  22. this is the end of Proflight. Zambian Airways was doing well before the 737-200 just like Zambezi Airlines. So Proflight will use all the money from the small planes to pay the South African Leassor until they are broke. Give them 8 months.

  23. Proflight says this plane is on lease until December, after which they will get a 300 series of this aircraft. Not sure whether they will lease or buy, but it’s an upgrade for them.

  24. 737-200s where built in the 1960s and if you do research most of these planes are either grounded or parked for the scrap heap..I’m just saying..

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