LAM Mozambique Ends Cape Town Flights in Route Restructure

LAM Mozambique Airlines (TM, Maputo) will suspend its Maputo to Cape Town International route on April 8 as part of its ongoing restructuring strategy focused on eliminating unprofitable services. This move reduces LAM’s regional network to just two destinations: Johannesburg O.R. Tambo in South Africa and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

The airline said the decision follows a performance review of all routes and aligns with its strategy to prioritize domestic operations while phasing out loss-making regional and long-haul services. Currently, LAM serves 12 domestic destinations.

The Cape Town route was operated using two CRJ900s wet-leased from CemAir (5Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), which continues to operate flights for LAM to Johannesburg, Dar es Salaam, and domestic cities including Lichinga, Nampula, Pemba, and Tete. ADS-B data indicates CemAir rotates up to six CRJ900s for these services.

LAM’s own fleet consists of a single DHC-8-Q400 and one Embraer E145, operated by its subsidiary MEX – Mocambique Expresso (MXE, Maputo), serving domestic routes.

This latest suspension follows recent route cuts to Harare (Zimbabwe), Lusaka (Zambia), and Lisbon (Portugal). The Lisbon route, operated by euroAtlantic Airways, was dropped due to USD21 million in losses since its relaunch in December 2023 after a 13-year gap.

To improve its financial sustainability, the Mozambican government is planning to sell a 91% stake in LAM to public companies and has launched a fleet renewal tender, inviting 14 companies to submit bids for three E190s and four Boeing 737-700s.

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Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com