LAM - Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (TM, Maputo) axes another unprofitable regional route on April 8, this time between Maputo and Cape Town International, leaving it with two regional destinations - Johannesburg O.R. Tambo in South Africa and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
The decision is part of LAM's restructuring strategy, which prioritises domestic operations and cuts unprofitable regional and intercontinental routes, the airline said in a statement. The restructuring plan, approved by the airline's board, follows a review of route performances.
LAM covers 12 destinations in the domestic market.
The Cape Town route was served with two CRJ900s wet-leased from CemAir (5Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), which still operates LAM's regional flights to Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam, plus domestic sectors to Lichinga, Nampula, Pemba, MZ, and Tete. ADS-B data shows that CemAir in fact switches between six CJR900s to service LAM's routes.
LAM's in-house fleet now consists of one DHC-8-Q400, C9-AUV (msn 4438), and one E145, C9-MEH (msn 145294), operated by its subsidiary MEX - Mocambique Expresso (MXE, Maputo), both flying domestic sectors.
In February, LAM axed unprofitable routes to Harare International (Zimbabwe) and Lusaka (Zambia), and its only intercontinental route to Lisbon (Portugal) operated on an ACMI contract with euroAtlantic Airways (YU, Lisbon), citing USD21 million losses on the long-haul route since it was reintroduced in December 2023 after a 13-year hiatus.
The Mozambican government is preparing to sell 91% of its shares in LAM to public companies in a bid to improve its financial sustainability. It has also launched an international fleet renewal tender and has pre-selected 14 companies that have been invited to present financial proposals for three E190s and four B737-700s.
