Zambezi Airlines reinstates service

After more than six months on the ground, Zambezi Airlines has taken to the air again, according to Garry Marshall, MD of BidAir Freight, the SA general sales agent (GSA) for the airline’s cargo sector. “The Zambian authorities withdrew the airline’s operating certificate last year until it resolved all the safety issues that were raised by the Zambia Civil Aviation Authority before the operations were grounded,” he told FTW. “Since then they have been busy restructuring themselves, have sourced Bombardier CRJ aircraft – which are much smaller than their previous – and taken a practical look at their operations. The grounding dented their confidence, so they are starting with a much more pragmatic approach to their operation – running with smaller loads, but on a more solid basis.” Zambezi’s CEO, Maureen Jangulo Dlamini, confirmed that the airline was to operate a fleet of CRJ200 50-seat aircraft from the Canadian planemaker, Bombardier. The airline’s initial service is covering Lusaka, Harare, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg, Ndola and Lubumbashi, she added. And Zambezi Airlines Country manager for SA, Michael Mujajati, added that the airline had learnt its lesson and would do its best to stay on the market. He said that Zambezi Airlines would begin its operations with one plane, a CRJ 200, sourced from SA Express, with two back-up planes. The maintenance works for the aircraft will be done by SA Express at Oliver Tambo International Airport.