An aviation expert, Captain Charles Musenge has advised governnment that now is not the time to relaunch the national airline owing to the coronavirus pandemic negative Impact on the aviation industry among other factors.
Captain Musenge said as a result of the pandemic, many airlines such as South African Airways and Namibian Airline are being placed under liquidation while European and American airlines have faced similar closures or their governments having to bail them out using billion of dollars to remain in the sky.
Among others, the Air Namibia management announced this week that the airline will cease operations, leaving over 600 employees without jobs following a cabinet decision to file for voluntary liquidation.
During a Hot FM radio program on Thursday, Transport and Communication Minister Mutotwe Kafwaya condemned former Minister of Finance and now Movement for Democratic Change President Felix Mutati’s criticism of the yet to be launched airline which he described as a flamboyant project.
Mr Kafwaya also justified that the national airline to be relaunched will not be run by governnment but individual companies in Ethiopian Airline and the Industrial Development Cooperation IDC.
But Captain Musenge who is also MDC Matero Constituency aspiring Member of Parliament with 30 years experience in aviation said this is not the time for Zambia with it’s struggling economy to launch the national airline with or without Ethiopian Airline.
Captain Musenge said the alliance between the governnment and Ethiopian Airline will not serve Zambia well as the country is heavily indebted.
He also said governnment has no capital for such a venture as running a national airline at the moment and as such, full consideration of the airline will only be made when the right time is in place along with the right leadership that will utilize existing aviation expertise.
“This is not the time for Zambia to launch the national airline with or without Ethiopian Airline. The Zambia – Ethiopian Airline alliance will not serve Zambia well. Zambia is heavily in debt and has no capital for such a venture” Captain Musenge said.
No amount of advice or criticism on this wasteful intentions to launch the airline will deter this PF govt. The hands are already in the cookie jar ready for self enrichment
There is never the right time in the world in doing things as each day we face could be our last on Earth so we start something not enjoy ourselves but for the next generation to benefit from.
Christopher Phiri I want to disagree with you though I’m agreeing with you. Cheers to that??
This advice is timely.The debts levels in Air Namibia as announced by the finance minister are truly unsustainable and the decision to liquidate the airline is justifiable and rational.South African Airways despite being in a strategic partnership alongside worldclas airlines like Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines in Star Alliance as a member,is still facing the same challenges as Air Namibia.As for the newly formed Zambian Airways,did the proponents,board members and management do a proper due diligence and possible conduct an audit as to why Zambian Airways was liquidated in the first place.
All sensible people I hv met hv been against launching a new national airline for Zambia. As ever, this advice was arrogantly spurned, just as they spurned the well-meaning advice against rapid debt accumulation.
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Moral of the story, it is not about time, but rather about having the right product and meet a real need.
Whether that is the case for Zambia Airways, I leave that for you party politics fanatics, otherwise known as useful I D I O T S, to decide
Will the government of the day
Listen to your timely advice?
Secondly going into joint venture
With Ethiopian airlines is like sharing the cake if at all it will be.
Lastly corvid19 affecting the global economy.
I think Captain Musenge has given a very timely advice and it’s making sense….
Sitali Simui yes you are very right……we need to wait for things to stabilize
Milimo Mulondola sure… Already Namibia has liquidated it’s national airline
Good advice… The country would be at lose right now if the airline started operations now due to covid
A good advice in the meantime… The government can’t wait until this pandemic is stabilized….. Most businesses have been hugely affected because of this
I think this was an ill thought decision in the first place. You can not ask somebody else to run a business on your behalf snd in your wisdom expect it to flourish.
FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME…There has never been a right time not now not 7 years ago…just shelf this idea all together and get our $30 million back we use it to contribute to EUROBOND repayments. Plus as I am typing there are directors on payroll who are sitting there doing nothing.
Being a pilot doesn’t equal being an aviation expert in the same way that being a teacher doesn’t mean you are an education expert.
However, one does not need to be a pilot or indeed a teacher to see why launching a national airline is a terrible idea.
Brosley – In Zambia that is the mindset..its like saying being a Bus driver makes someone an Transport CEO when he has never worked in an office as a manager.
“Mr Kafwaya also justified that the national airline to be relaunched will not be run by governnment but individual companies in Ethiopian Airline and the Industrial Development Cooperation IDC.” – These people think we are gullible…IDC is not an independent organisation it’s run by handpicked political party stooges and most of its companies have never recorded any profit..its all too waste.
This so called captain musenge must be a upnd diasporan. These diasporans lack patriotism. You see this musenge clown would rather proudly fly foreign national airlines rather than be proud to one day fly the zambian one.
We don’t have time for such negative diasporan drivel. To hell. We are going ahead whether you like it or not. Fuseke
Tarino and your fellow upnd diasporan, shut up. You are not zambian and will never allow you to regain citizenship. Stay out of our business you sick asylum seekers
Tarino and your fellow upnd diasporan, stfu. You are not zambian and will never allow you to regain citizenship. Stay out of our business you sick asylum seekers
It is valentine’s. I bought my wlfe a dress she always wanted at the price of 26000 kwacha. I have just been admiring her in it. Ah chilimo limo my regina. I love this woman. Happy valentine’s my darling.
@Tarino, Newsdiggers! once wrote an editorial on the IDC, it’s a conduit for corruption and money laundering. There is no difference between that and the so called Presidential empowerment fund.
Airlines are generally bad business for governments!
Brosley – You are spot on…just look at the number of times IDC has borrowed from ZCCM-IH
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You should try your best not to take anything trolls say seriously. No matter how poorly they behave, remember these people spend countless unproductive hours trying to make people mad. They’re not worth your time of day.
ONCE AGAIN TARIINO GETS POST OF THE DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!
AND KZ GETS THUMBS DOWN AND LYING ABOUT GETTING HIS WIFE A DRESS FOR K26,000
YOU ARE A CHEAP SKATE FOR ONE AND TWO THAT WAS MONEY GIVEN TO YOU TO HAND OUT TO SOME UNSUSPECTING VILLAGE FOR THEIR VOTE
The pandemic should not be an excuse for not launching the project, but rather for not starting operations. People will never stop travelling, whether for business or for pleasure. While the small players in the industry are giving up, the bigger players like Lufthansa, Air France and Türkish Airlines are getting 100% support from their governments so that they’re in a pole position and ready to dominate the market after the challenges.
The re-launching of QZ or whatever it will be called is a MUST. However, can be delayed until the pandemic is under reasonable control. Mind you even the west that came up with covid-19 did not know or guess the extent of human genicide it was going to cause. This is because it wasn’t meant for and you can guess who it was meant for. It happened at a wrong time and wrong place. If Africa were one and industrialised, this accident wouldn’t have affected Africa as it was just going to be a matter of closing the entry into Africa. Zambia needs an airline especially that we will re-start together with big airlines and especially that most airlines in Southern Africa are closed and Zambia could take up that space. Don’t look on the negative side all the times. Most companies have made…
FROM 21
…Don’t look on the negative side all the times. Most companies have made Billions during the pandemic. WE NEED AN AIRLINE, PERIOD.
The only airline worth launching now is to send entire PF into permanent exile.
This is the only country where we have a zambia airways board with fully functioning support staff and offices including an MD chewing salaries and allowances for the past two years for a non existent airline with not even a single plane.
Nine Chale – Gullible as ever ….The reasons Turkish govt and French govts are helping their national flag airlines is the same reason our govt should not venture into that sector …its like telling people to cross a croc infested river crossing when they can use a bridge 100 metres down stream. FYI a lot of big boys like Ryan Air and SouthWest have grounded half their fleets
@ Tarino. These PF fools will never learn. They just want to enrich themselves in any way they can.
They don’t give a crap about good governance, how to empower local companies. Invest in health care/ supporting local industries.
Zambia does not produce a high level of revenue stream so that we can embark on bankrupt projects. National airline will not survive, it will just bleed the treasury. Not forgetting we have $27 billion of debt unpaid.
That retard KZ can care to explain how and when this debt will be paid. How will lungu reduce poverty and increase employment rate.
PF has run its course. Once HH is in power close all borders and arrest them all to investigate all stolen money.
THE MAN IS NOT AN AVIATION EXPERT HE IS JUST A PILOT , DOES HE UNDERSTAND AERODYNAMICS? LET ALONE CAN HE EVEN SOLVE A POLYNOMIAL EQUATION , CAN HE EVEN UNDERSTAND ECONOMIC OPTIMIZATION USING THE SIMPLEX METHOD? PLEASE GO TO WASTE UR MONEY IN MATERO UNDER MDC AS WE VOTE FOR OUR PF OWN MILES SAMPA OR JERE WHOEVER SHALL BE ADOPTED. A plane driver giving advice over launching a national airline NIWE NANI? FUMYA A DEGREE YOBE TUMONE?
Scouser – These people are really stupid and very reckless …just the other day I read that Chitotela is looking for ways to launch a Tourism TV channel when Zambia is getting free publicity on Sky Wildlife channel in the UK with TV series like Untamed Zambia about Mvula the young elephant and Savage Kingdom all filmed in the Luangwa Valley. The most annoying thing about it is that you dont even see one advert in the breaks.
IDC is Zambian government. Zambian government is the Zambian people. Who do this politicians want to hoodwink? We are not masons.
Zambia Airways version 1 was also owned by Zambia IDC called INDECO. Same company, same words, deferent abbreviations. We are repeating history, reinventing the wheel. F00ls do not learn from history. Zambia Airways should be a listed company owned by the Zambian shareholders who can fire the CEO and not by State House.
Each morning when I wake am TAKEN ABACK by the ignorance and negativity of most Zambians such that even those you expect to know better can’t stop for once to research but just oppose anything good for the country just because its PF and ECL initiative the same way we destroyed anything and everything done by KK and UNIP after KK reintroduced Multipartism.
We had Zambian Airways during KKs government and was a very viable Company in my view since it had a HEALTHY BALANCE SHEET never mind some yearly operating loses, but was liquidated. The Company had more ASSETS than LIABILITIES. All that was required was reorganizing management and its operations.
In a Parliamentary Ministerial Statement by then Transport Minister a week or two prior to its liquidation, the nation was told Zambia…
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Airways was not going to go like other hundreds of Parastatals. Alas, some a Mr. “KAFUPI” (nom deplume) whilst in London directed for its liquidation for no reason other than Political and the fact that it was the initiative of UNIP under KK.
The hate for KK and UNIP cost Zambia as a country 50 years of backwardness and Retardedness in terms of Development and Human Capital as we destroyed what KK and UNIP had built and trained in terms of Infrastructure and trained manpower for mother Zambia.
Am seeing History repeating itself. Instead of improving on what SATA/ECL and PF have achieved we are calling for their destruction INSTEAD. SHAME
LET US GIVE ZAMBIA AIRWAYS A TRY BY RELAUNCING IT. YES “COVID19” WILL BE WITH US FOR A WHILE BUT WILL DIMINISH JUST LIKE, AIDS,…
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EBOLA, BIRD FLU, etc etc.
WE ARE IN THE LAST DAYS OF BIBLE; DELAYING ZAMBIA AIRWAYS RELAUNCH WILL BE WAITING FOR ANOTHER PRAGUE TO HAPPEN WHICH WILL BE EVEN COSTLY. LET US START SLOWLY, FELLOW ZAMBIANS LET SU BE POSITIVE FOR ONCE. I REST MY CASE
Gayzar Zulu doesn’t have a wife. He has a boyfriend, because he is gay. So you bought a dress for him? Well done
Apart from the fact that homosexuality is illegal in this country, so you will be going to jail. And we can forget about airlines. Lungu is giving 9000 bikes to chiefs, while he sits in his private jet!
What expertise is Mr. Musenge, is he a pilot, a CEO or an owner of an airline. From the picture looks like a pilot. He could be an expert in aviation in terms of being a pilot but not in business. Having an airline for Zambia is ok. Personally I like the idea. I just don’t like the deal they have made with Ethiopian airways. Why didn’t they do it with KLM, Quantas, Qatar or Emirates? And why have less shares. Zambia should have more shares and with a possibility of having 100% shareholding while allowing a private company run it on Zambia’s behalf to ensure profitability and avoid abuse by government officials.
This man just because he has joined an opposition political party he becomes an expert. This pilot is just like a minibus driver. He does not become an expert simply by flying an aircraft. He was told where to fly. And now he becomes an expert my word.