Thursday, March 28, 2024

Zambia Airways relaunch deferred to next year

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Zambia Airways
Zambia Airways

The planned relaunch of Zambia Airways has been deferred to January 1st 2019.

It was planned that the new Zambia Airways will take to the skies on October 24th this year, on the occasion of Zambia’s 54th independence anniversary.

But it was announced during the signing ceremony of a shareholder agreement between the Industrial Development Corporation and Ethiopian Airlines that the inaugural flight will only take off on January 1st, 2019.

According to the agreement, IDC owns 55 percent of the shares while Ethiopian Airways has 45 percent.

The Airline has an initial startup capital of US$30 million dollars.

IDC Chief Executive officer Mateyo Kaluba said the establishment of the national airline will deepen and strengthen growth in the country’s industrialization.

On the other hand, Ethiopian Airlines Group Executive Officer Tewolde Gebremarian said his firm will work hard to ensure Zambia Airways succeeds.

82 COMMENTS

  1. So Ethiopian airlines will ensure that Zambia Airways does not go to destinations where it goes??…..will this work out really?

    • They don’t have money. When HH warned that this PF debt will come back to haunt you, you called him bitter. Tiye tiye ifintu ni Lungu, mulesumina

    • Please EA just refund our $30million so we cut our losses now…if Lazy Lungu wants a Zambian airline let him spray paint the Presidential Bombardier Challenger himself..the lazy sod!!

    • Malawians are crying over unfair deal with Ethiopian Airlines to operate their airline. They are not benefiting anything. All the profits are swallowed by EA’s subsidiaries providing management, catering, aircraft maintenance, uniforms, training etc.
      EA is successful becoz of it’s cheap tickets. It operates as a “dobba-dobba”. If u buy a ticket to europe, the plane will pick passengers from Luanda, Harare, Kigali, Lilongwe, Maputo etc before heading to Addis Ababa. There u wait for few days in their hotel before heading to Europe after the plane gets full.

    • The last paragraph tells me that we shall be paying to merely paint our national colours on the ET planes while the manage and run everything else…. more like some twisted brand campaign. Oh! and we shall also contribute some human beings who will be moving up and down the plane aisles smiling at everyone …presumably relations to PF caders

    • That Briam Mushimba, Minister for Transport is a big joke. Just last week he was saying the launch would be 24th Oct. Mushimba represents a typical PF minister, they are all clueless!!

    • What people don’t understand is that EA lose nothing if this company fails or folds ..its not their money they are playing with on experimental routes like NY …really laughable..people think those slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) are cheap as chips!!

    • I will be in Zambia then so I put myself among the elite Zambians to take the maiden flight on the inaugural ZA flight to wherever. I will be representing the LT blogger ship and myself. I hope there won’t be any hidden taxes by Brian on this day!

    • This Mushimba, the minister should know better than what he tries to portray to the Zambian people on the Zambia-Ethiopia airline establishment deal. It is high time Zambians took keen interest in knowing the people they entrust in running the country’s affairs for Mushimba may not have a sympathetic relationship with the country he calls his ‘home’ for at his age and exposure mostly in the USA he could be performing much better!

    • I wonder where the dull Brian Minister is to face the media and eat his words about launching in October…really laughable…this is how the firm will managed no reasons will be given!!

  2. Waste of Zambian taxpayers money has thankfully been deferred but it still feels like a death row inmate getting a mere 4 more months to live. B.R Mumba your cookie is crumblng.

    • @ Jay Jay with your UPND drones, I see that you are having a field day at any small sign of negativity on a any PF led project. You chaps are popping bubblies already. This is the low acumen you exhibit in everything. You are suckers for political success from failures of others and not on your ability to DO more than others. You “success is limited to others’ effort… typical of parasites”. The launch has only been postponed by 3 months no 3 years or cancelled. You have won nothing, as usual.

    • @Hakaiinde … that’s what get from low IQ individuals like Gay Gay here. They always sing praises others even those doing worse than them.

      For instance the British Airport Authority (BAA) has failed to run London City Airport and Gatwick Airport making losses and losing traffic 10 years in a row until a Nigerian bought them and now they are profitable.

      Guys like Gay Gay have confidence in themselves and the ability of black people to do anything significant

    • There goes JUNIOR running off again giving wild examples that remotely related to the topic at hand…you think running an airport is similar to running an airline, do you see Zambian Airline already up and running just needing restructuring? Gatwick is the second-busiest airport in the UK by passenger traffic 46 million per year and airport business is lucrative business especially for a now well connected airport to the city showcased as business airport.

    • Listen to Gay Gay “… airport business is lucrative business especially for a now well connected airport to the city showcased as business airport”

      That’s exactly what I mean when I say low IQ. If it is lucrative how can British Aviation Authority was losing money and decided to sell both London City Airport and Gatwick to Global Infrastructure Partners owned by Adebayo Ogunlesi, Nigerian.

      The moral of the reference is to make you understand that blacks can run businesses and make them successful even where the British failed. So, don’t expect us to fail because British Airways is not as profitable as Ethiopian Airlines per capita.

    • BR mumba
      When you see the British selling it does not mean they have failed to run it , they only want to bring more money into the country , it’s seems a formula that works for them. Lump sums are pumped into the country.

    • Listen here JUNIOR, BAA had spread themselves thin when they were running both Gatwick and Heathrow…Heathrow itself is a challenge ..why is it important what nationality the owner of the company is? There are successful companies out there run by blacks but thats besides the point…PF have got all this setup all wrong thst all you need to know not the red herrings you are throwing in.

    • @Spaka … nice try buddy but the contracts and board resolutions to sell were based on two things.

      1. Declining profits

      2. Declining flights

      Ogunlesi bought Gatwick for $1.5B through his investment banking firm and turned those fortunes around. Today Gatwick handles 45.5M people per annum.

      Look, when I was just getting started with my graduate studies (way back when) at SMU, the same school Laura Bush went to and now houses the George W Bush Presidential Library, I had just been promoted to junior executive at Citigroup Dallas.

      My first assignment was to take over a failing division worth $780M in assets. I came to find out this division was the only loss making part and had been bleeding cash for seven years straight.

      All my predecessors were US born white males but it…

    • Continued…

      All my predecessors were US born white males but it was up for sale and my last predecessor’s head was on the chopping board that year but he was a darling of somebody in the New York office and had just secured a transfer back there.

      That whole thing fell in lap. I came to learn later the office politics behind me taking over were that I would be a better scapegoat. Foreign born, black male (BRM) Vice President being the last in charge of Citigroup’s failing division, you get the drift???!!!

      To everyone’s surprise, I turned the division around because I immediately figured out why we were losing money. I also removed certain operations to already existing centers to ensure focus on origination and avoid functional duplicity.

      In three years, I grew the total…

    • Continued…

      In three years, I grew the total assets to $2.3B employing 300 under me from 70 I found and the division was growing by 27% a year beating Citigroup’s annual benchmark of 23% per year.

      I earned a hefty bonus for myself that I used down the road to go into business for myself and I have never worked for anyone since. So, bottom line is research the real reason and the 2 above are the only ones they sold.

      Now, let’s for a second entertain your rationale. London is the financial capital of Europe, how come they could not talk to their bankers for cash?

      The answer: they did several times but they had been bleeding cash for 10, their cash flow was in the downward trajectory and so were their landing data.

      When you work with these guys at close proximity at higher…

    • Continued…

      When you work with these guys at close proximity at higher levels you soon realize they are not smarter than us. They just have systems in place that help them track success so when the dynamics change and they don’t realize it and fail to adjust they become clueless because the system is no longer working at that point.

      They are not smarter than us, but blacks have a way of withdrawing due to self esteem and we acquiesce for no reasons whatsoever.

      It’s time we took control … if I graduated top of my class in college here in the US, how come I can’t lead effectively when I join corporate America??? That’s what I am talking about, Spaka; my dearest friend.

      We have no option but to make the new Zambia Airways a success. We have way too many smart people among us…

    • Continued…

      We have no option but to make the new Zambia Airways a success. We have way too many smart people among us and failure is not an option this time around; we have way too much at stake … I rest my case.

      @Gay Gay … that kite won’t fly, mate!!! I am a carnivore, give me some meat!!!! No excuses, just actions allowed, bane.

    • Like I said you are an educated fooool JUNIOR…using wild examples to churn out paragraphs of nothing to do with the the need to create a national airline.

    • JJ oloso… can’t just agree that what Mumba is saying makes sense. If others did it, we can oloso did it. I remember old Gray Zulu liked to say that.

      Bring it on!!!

    • Like I say , the Brits are astute businessmen and administrators . And the formulae of offloading assets to foreign buyers works for them….be is their housing stock or other capital assets like nuclear power plants or railways , they seem to prefer to flog them off to foringners to bring more money into their economy…..I ain’t no economist but the British seem to do that with every thing and the pound remains king….

    • @Spaka … you are way too smart for this. Your astute businessmen were losing money at Gatwick.

      Why did they decide to keep Heathrow where they were making money??? Why didn’t they offload it too???

      After all, they would bring in more by offloading Heathrow which is better and worth more???

      Please advise … bottom line is what I referred to above. They were failing and losing money, period.

    • I can tell you that the sale of Gatwick had every thing to do with a construction of an additional runway…..Gatwick needs an additional runway, it is too small. I am afraid who ever bought Gatwick will soon realise this.

    • @Spaka … same old British BS of “Royce Royce never breaks down” and you have drunk their cool aid, mate.

      If the damn Royce Royce never breaks down, why the hell do we have Royce Royce garages and mechanics.

      Gatwick is thriving under GIP and is now a success story after the Brits failed to run it and Black African now also American took over.

      Go figure

    • Sparks, the devil is in the details. Its evident you love the Brits and you want them to win all the time. You sound shocked that it looks they have let you down this time. Admit it you have run out of ways to defend them. Its gave over

  3. Really laughable…we told these “smart people of Zambian Enterprise” and dull Brian now they are merely kicking the can down the road…as the figures have already climbing up.

  4. The Zambian economy will be in a complete meltdown come January 2019.so the factors which have necessitated this postponement will be ten times greater than they are now! But all along we all knew this is a pipe dream. Even that mushimba gu, deep down he knows this but again anyone can take Zambians for suckers!

  5. Can’t investigate #42 Wheelbarrows, but dreaming of an Airline “with the Zambian flag” on it, P.F. smart P.F dreamers.

  6. If my memory serves me well i remember transport minister was busy assuring Zambians not too long ago,maybe a week or so ago emphasizing that the airliner will open on 24th October as scheduled.What is wrong with these guys,every time they open their mouths its always lies falling out.They knew very well that the 24th October deadline was not possible but went on telling lies.30 million is not enough to run a national airliner,even the fire tenders are more expensive
    These PF guys are benefiting from the docility and shortsightedness of Zambians to destroy this country.Foolish people don’t see anything bad with the govt. Postponing the launch in itself is not a bad thing but the whole deal and investment has been shrouded in secrecy and corruption.Anyone knows the investment was not…

    • CONTINUED……
      properly researched and well thought out.As much as we need a national airliner we need to be careful so that we don’t end up incurring more debt and other problems that will put this country in even deeper waters because as things stand so far we are in very big problems
      Jonathan Mtawari will be enjoying his retirement in eSwatini while our children suffers

  7. Maybe they are aiming to concide with opening KKIA…..

    As the PF put it , you would not be building expensive garages if you don’t have vehecheals to park them in…..

    I for one would not oppose this as GRZ are will be riding on and hopfully learning from the sucsse of Ethiopian air….

  8. Interesting to read that most under5s are disappointed. Didn’t know that they were looking forward to the launch.

    • I think it’s more of an “I told you so” moment than disappointment. Isn’t that obvious?

      If there is true “disappointment” like you say, probably i’ts that the Government of Zambia has again failed to deliver on its own promises. That’s that the sad part… and indeed, people told you so!

    • @Little D!ck Head

      Under fives are eagerly waiting to see “brand new” 40,000 hours B767 or B737-200 with Zambian flag

  9. They think January 2019 is years away.Serious and organised people by now would be telling us that they have finalised plans to launch the airline in January.
    Unfortunately the media in Zambia is both docile and spineless otherwise they would have taken the minister to task.

  10. Ba Spaka is KKIA scheduled to open in January 2019?
    Running an airline is no child s play,ask SA,Kenya and the Ethiopian themselves.
    If u research how many airlines have merged in America in the past 7 yrs u wI’ll be shocked!

    • Ethopian air is one of the sucsses stories of African air travel , SAA have lazy workers who think they are entitled to free things because SA owes them…. KA is still operational.

      And $30 million is a very small amount for an airline….this is essentially Ethiopian air with a Zambian badge…..like in Europe you have omega cars which are sold in the UK under the Vauxhall badge. Every one is happy , trigger happy Zambians can say we have an airline , GRZ gets a share and hopefully learns , Ethiopian air get some airport concessions and tap into the Zambian market ….

    • Maybe nearer opening of KKIA
      Ethopian air is one of the sucsses stories of African air travel , SAA have lazy workers who think they are entitled to free things because SA owes them…. KA is still operational.

      And $30 million is a very small amount for an airline….this is essentially Ethiopian air with a Zambian badge…..like in Europe you have omega cars which are sold in the UK under the Vauxhall badge. Every one is happy , trigger happy Zambians can say we have an airline , GRZ gets a share and hopefully learns , Ethiopian air get some airport concessions and tap into the Zambian market ….

    • Spaka – when you say “And $30 million is a very small amount for an airline…”, will you please elaborate. You realize that you do not need to own a plane to run an airline, right? By the way Zambia Airways had a lot of unclaimed assets still lying around all over the world – it is possible some of these have been mopped up. Zambia’s capacity to manage an economy, and an airline, is what is cardinal here. Have we learnt anything from the mistakes of the original Zambia Airways?

    • Air lines invest billion in their businesses. That $30 million is like buying a brand new jet for lungu and running costs…yes you don’t need to own a plane to run an airline like you don’t need to own a taxi to be in the taxi bussiness but some times it is cheaper to actually own…i think Zambia air ways can not go into an airline alone and again what’s the use of all those new air ports if you don’t have an airline ?

      As for Zambia airways assets those have been all chewed by the likes of SP mulenga and other vultures ….

  11. This minister Mushimba will make PF lose elections in 2021 because he ise killing the country due to his wrong decisions which president doesn’t see.Already at Rtsa the speed system is scam.There is no proper data base of motor vehicles and u expect the system to work.The roads are not well marked but u want to introduce speed cameras coz u want money.Its not about safety but money in their pockets.Where on earth can you drive at 60km/h in kafue raod,great north,great east,airport road?These roads are good and u don’t expect a good Benz,hilux ect to drive at 60km/h.let us increase the speed limit to 100km/h and 80km/h.

    • Highway speed minimum must be 120 km/h. Other trunk roads free of built up situations can be between 80 and 100, then within built up areas 40 to 60. How do you drive Lusaka to Ndola at 100 km/h like imbeciles!? With good signage it is very easy to slow down for humps and populated areas. As it is you even have to guess where humps are! What a mess!!!

    • Mmmm kalok

      120m/h ? You guys , when the Speedo has 180 mph does not mean faka petro until near clocking the speedometer …no wounder there are so many road fatalities in Zambia.

  12. The investment itself of US$30million tells any sensible person that this whole Zambia Airways story is either a hoax or just a chrismas joke for 2018. One Boeing 737-700 twinjet narrow-body jet, which is the cheapest and most economical model, costs around US$85.8 million. This is among the least expensive models, similar to Boeing’s 727 and 707. The most expensive are Boeing 777-9 series priced around US$425.8 million each.

    Is Zambia buying any planes from the US$30million or just leasing? If we are just leasing, is it really worth it, considering the burden we have to liquidate the Eurobonds kongoles? My take is that govt should either just abandon this scheme or lease out the Presidential Jet for executive hire, as the starting point….

  13. We need our own airline you cannot depend on your neighbour to be taking your children to school or your wife to work , what will happen when you quarrel with him.
    What will happen when he doesnt want , it is immoral to expose your people to begging when you can acquire the same air line like your neighbour .
    Some zambians have so much fear that they cannot even buy a car for the fear of spending on insurance and get broke shame on you prophets of doom.

    • What do you need an airline for? What if you have a school bus and a your wife’s company bus stopping outside your house …would you see it economical employing a driver to take your wife to work and do the school run??
      I have told you chaps time and time again simply reduce the price of A1 Jet Fuel by reducing tax on it…don’t you know that Kenya Airlines detours to Harare from Lusaka to Nairobi simply to top up on fuel without keeping up passengers.
      Wake up stop talking about immorality and giving daft examples of things you barely understand…you are not in a tavern talking to your drunk friends.
      Wake up!!

  14. Launch in 2035….

    So this ci IDC will take dividends from ZCCM IH and throw into the sewer called Zambian Airways. Bututu bwashani ubu kanshi? Dr Kasolo, you are led by that party cadre Mateyo Kaluba surely?

  15. But whatever we do Zambians, pleaseee NOTI ba Triba.lism h.h. , I trust you brethren. Triba.lism is worse than anything bad that you can think of.

    President in southern region no problem.

  16. The November-December 2018 two-month postponement is reasonable. Major events can be postponed under certain conditions. It is necessary to approach the matter with a sense of proportion and flexibility. A successful launch is the outcome of the short delay. When the launch day comes on 21 January 2019, the launch will be a great success. It will be a day to celebrate and rejoice for all Zambians and Ethiopians. It will be a day to celebrate and rejoice for the passengers of all the continent of Africa and world..

  17. Okay, fact is Zambia Airways will be relaunched whether today or whatever but it will be under PF Government, and in 2021, PF and President Lungu will win and win convincingly, next news please.

  18. First they want to employ their bululus in the airline….I also need a job, i have been on the street for a long time with my Degrees, nangu fye ukupela drink mundeke napapata!

  19. How about calling a press conference to explain the reasons for this sudden ‘postponement’ and answer a few questions? Below is what the minister stated 16 days ago.

    “Government has maintained that 24th October this year still remains the official date on which the Zambian Airways will be launched.

    Minister of Transport and Communication Brian Mushimba says the large part of the homework to establish the national airline have now been done”

  20. THE MINISTER AND HIS PS MUST BE HIDING NOW IN AGONY , AS THE MAN LIKES MEDIA TOO MUCH MAKING UNRESEARCHED STATEMENTS, FIRE THEM ECL FOR MISLEADING THE NATION

  21. So Brian mushimba who was so adamant on the launch date and assured the people time and again be prepared to swallow your own vomit.

  22. Comment:so finaly the national Zambia airline is coming back the skies . we should start preparing to celebrate not oppossing the right

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