Maputo, July 4, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique’s government spokesman, Inocêncio Impissa, acknowledged on Friday that the government will issue a licence to private company Solenta for domestic flights once the ongoing assessment and reform of the sector, also involving the state-owned LAM, are complete.
“We will soon have specific information about Solenta Aviation, and the authorities will issue its licence as soon as the conditions have been met. This is because the work being done (…) will ultimately benefit Solenta and any other private operator that wishes to operate in Mozambique,” said Impissa.
Journalists in Maputo asked the spokesperson at the weekly government press conference about the Mozambique Civil Aviation Institute (IACM)’s ongoing processing of the air operating licence requested by Solenta Aviation Mozambique to enter the domestic market, currently dominated by the state-owned LAM.
"This reform should benefit the business environment in Mozambique and enhance the business environment for all potential operators who wish to fly in Mozambique," Impissa stressed, recalling that the authorities launched a “reform process at LAM and throughout the air transport ecosystem” in May.
The director general of the private airline Solenta Aviation Mozambique told Lusa on 1 July that the prompt issuance of the licence to start operations would be “normal”, given that four aircraft are already in Maputo waiting to become an alternative to LAM on domestic flights.
Brian Holmes, Solenta’s director general, said that the carrier “has already fulfilled all technical and operational conditions” and paid all fees due in May, and is currently awaiting the licence.
“What I can say is that it is unusual. It is even more unusual when we receive no official response explaining why the authorities have not yet issued it,” Holmes said at the time.
The government spokesman said that the restructuring of the Mozambican air market “benefits LAM as a company and also strengthens the entire aviation sector” in the country: “It is true that Solenta Aviation has submitted all the documents and complied with the legal requirements for the granting of a licence. But at the same time, within the framework of this reform, within the series of actions that the authorities are carrying out, the observers monitor measures so that Solenta’s authorisation responds to this reform process that is underway.”
He added that Solenta officials have been meeting with the government, ensuring that “shortly” a working committee will present solutions for the sector. “Working only with LAM becomes effective when the ecosystem is properly structured. That is what is happening,” he said.
LAM, engulfed in a deep crisis, has paused international flights this year and is focusing on domestic connections. The company is acquiring new aircraft after addressing systemic operational problems. LAM also got new management in May and new shareholders, including Hidroelétrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) and Empresa Moçambicana de Seguros (Emose), with the government spokesman acknowledging the possibility that the National Social Security Institute (INSS) may also acquire a stake in the company.
Solenta has four Embraer 145 aircraft for domestic operations in Mozambique, one of which will be used by the oil industry for charter flights, and the others will operate on routes from Maputo to Tete, Beira, Quelimane, and Nampula. The company’s general director explained that tour operators requested an additional aircraft, and the company will add it to fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Vilanculos, a tourist district in the province of Inhambane.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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