Maputo, Oct. 7, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique Airlines (LAM) has leased an Airbus A319 in Ukraine, with capacity to carry 144 passengers, to "reinforce its fleet", the Mozambican Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday.
"Mozambique Airlines has just leased another aircraft in Ukraine to reinforce its air transport fleet," reads a note published today on the Facebook page of the Mozambican Ministry of Transport and Logistics.
It is an Airbus A319 aircraft that will be operated by a Ukrainian crew, along with a package that includes the "guarantee of maintenance and insurance services", the note stated.
According to the Mozambican ministry, the flag carrier currently has six aircraft, five of which are leased and a recently acquired Bombardier Q400, the first in 18 years.
On 23 September, Mozambique's government acknowledged the difficulties involved in restructuring LAM. Still, it stressed that the aim was to ensure the company's functionality and safety, with five aircraft expected to be acquired by December.
"We never said that the process of restructuring the company would be easy, we're still going to have a lot of difficulties ahead of us," said the Minister of Transport and Logistics, João Matlombe, during a three-day visit to Zambézia, central Mozambique, when questioned by journalists about consecutive breakdowns in an aircraft recently acquired by the company.
For several years, LAM has been facing operational problems related to a reduced fleet and a lack of investment, with a record of some non-fatal incidents associated by experts with poor aircraft maintenance. The company is currently undergoing a major restructuring process.
The Mozambican state-owned airline has practically stopped operating international flights this year, concentrating on domestic routes as part of a restructuring process that also led to the arrival in May of a new board of directors and the appointment of public companies HCB, CFM, and Emose as shareholders.
To minimise recurring problems with flight cancellations, it intends to purchase five Boeing 737-700 aircraft and, pending this process, has launched a tender to lease an additional five.
LN/ADB // ADB.
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