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Strategies & Market Trends : Africa and its Issues- Why Have We Ignored Africa? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (71)	5/29/2003 8:13:18 PM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1267

Good news for DRC and Zambia IMO Zambian Airways launches DRC flights By Business Reporter ZAMBIAN Airways has introduced a flight to Lubumbashi in the Congo DR to address market demand for air travel services into that country. And Zambian Airways new chief executive officer (CEO) Don MacDonald said the airline was set for a rapid development into a key regional player taking advantage of the country’s location. Mr MacDonald said in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that the Lubumbashi route, which commenced flights on Monday, was the most pressing demand while the airline made plans to launch other routes in the region. He said the airline had identified a significant gap in the market as a lot of people were flying into the southern DRC through Zambia. “There was need for us to address this demand for air travel services since people used to drive from Lubumbashi to Ndola to catch flights to various destinations,” Mr MacDonald said. The airline would fly three times into the DRC on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays at a cost of US$175 and US$330 for a single and return ticket respectively from Lusaka and US$105 and US$210 from Ndola to Lubumbashi. Zambian Airways was already flying into Harare, Lilongwe in addition to domestic flights to Livingstone, Mfuwe, Chipata, Ndola and would resume the Kitwe route as soon as rehabilitation works at the Kitwe airport were completed. Mr MacDonald, however said developing a network of flights into the region would increase competition for the airline and there was need to ensure there was a level playing field. Specifically the concerns were raised on the cost of aviation fuel that for instance was selling at 0.28 cents for a litre in Zimbabwe but in Zambia the same was going at 0.47 cents for a litre. “We would like to see the cost of aviation fuel come down as the reduction would assist in ensuring profitability of the business,” he said. Mr MacDonald also noted that Zambian Airways was faced with challenges but was on the way to addressing them and make the business profitable. He said among others were, the September 11 attacks on the US and the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which had induced lack of confidence in the aviation industry but observed that these problems had not specifically affected his airline. He said other challenges were to build a local and regional market adding that Africa and Zambia in particular were still safe destinations for the industry. Zambian Airways would also want to address local perceptions that air travel was expensive by offering discounted tickets as was the case during the African Freedom Day holiday to afford Zambians an opportunity to travel and develop the tourism industry. “We want to see Zambian Airways fly to all neighbouring countries since people are already inquiring about other routes. We also want to bring air travel close to the local people and also build the airline as a major hub in the region,” he said.