National Airline to be relaunched on Independence Day
By SIMON MUNTEMBA GOVERNMENT has disclosed that the national Airline will be re-launched on October 24th this year with full operations expected to start forthwith.
Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba announced the approval of the establishment of a US$30 Million national airline by Cabinet and the Ministry of Justice.
He said that with the millions of dollars that government was investing in Aviation industry, it was prudent to establish a national Airline.
"Our national Airline will be re-launched on October 24 this year. The fact that October 24 is our independence day, it will be symbolic to have an inaugural flight and our President Edgar Lungu will be on that flight and he will pay for that flight to insure it is run as business without political interference.
"We are re- launching the national Airline with a strategic partner, Ethiopian airlines. The Zambian government will be the majority owner of this operation with 55 percent while Ethiopian airlines will have 45 percent,” he said. Mr Mushimba further disclosed that government in conjunction with Ethiopian Airline will soon appoint a board that will consist of 7 directors; 4 from Zambia and 3 from Ethiopia.
Mr. Mushimba said the PF government’s objective and vision is to see Zambia becoming a transport and communications hub in the SADC region by 2030. Speaking during the PF ‘season 2’ interactive forum in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Mushimba reiterated the need for Zambia which is a landlocked country surrounded by 8 countries and politically stable, to be a transport and communications hub in the region.
He said his government is planning ahead by investing in infrastructure development for the country to realise its dreams of becoming a transport and communication hub by 2030.
The minister emphasized that his ministry had a mandate to make all forms of transportation available and affordable noting that people must have options of transporting goods.
He also said his ministry was revising the national transport policy to optimise the transport sector and promote the sustainability of rail subsector.
Mr Mushimba added that in a bid to optimise the transport sector and promote the sustainability of rail subsector, the government signed a Statutory Instrument (SI) which will make it mandatory for all transporters of bulk and heavy cargo to shift 30 per cent of the cargo to rail.
“This is a statutory instrument that is going to mandate 30 per cent heavy and bulk cargo in the country to move from road to rail
“It’s a PF policy that we invest in the four transport sector in Zambia. We want to invest in to road transport, rail and water transportation as well as the aviation sector to facilitate trade between Zambia and the Great lakes region" he said.
He said the implementation of the quota system will lead to the preservation of the road infrastructure while the railway industry will be guaranteed volumes of cargo and increased revenues and efficiency to allow self-generated resources for further investments.
The Minister expressed confidence that the process was going to be very beneficial to the transport sector stating that by moving 30% of the bulk cargo from road to rail, it would make the roads safer.