Proflight Zambia adds first CRJ200LR for regional expansion

Proflight Zambia (P0, Lusaka) is doubling its regional capacity with the addition of its first CRJ200LR in mid-December, with operations scheduled to start on February 1, 2022.

OY-MIL (msn 7391) is being leased on a three-year contract from owner, Canada’s Avmax Aircraft Leasing, an airline spokesman confirmed to ch-aviation. It will be ferried to Zambia next week. Once there, the aircraft will be reregistered in Zambia.

According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, OY-MIL’s last operator was Copenhagen AirTaxi (CAT, Copenhagen Roskilde).

The Bombardier Aerospace regional jet will complement Proflight’s existing CRJ100LR, 9J-PZA (msn 7141), and will enable it to increase the frequency of its Lusaka to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (South Africa) route, and expand its regional network, the airline said.

“The new 50-seater jet has a range of 2,735 kilometres, opening up the potential for routes from Lusaka to Cape Town (South Africa), Mauritius, Luanda (Angola), and other regional destinations, subject to demand,” the statement said.

The fleet addition comes as Proflight Zambia begins to recover from a drop off in passenger numbers in the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Under the circumstances, this has been a very big decision for the shareholders, but we feel we have to take the step now in order to move forward,” commented Proflight Zambia Director (Flight Operations) Josias Walubita.

“The addition of the CRJ200LR is a testament to a recovering market and allows Proflight Zambia to add additional frequencies and more destinations,” added Avmax Group Chief Executive Officer Mark Maydaniuk.

From its base at Lusaka, Proflight Zambia currently services domestic routes including Livingstone, Mfuwe, Lower Zambezi (Jeki and Royal), Ndola, and Solwezi, as well as Johannesburg. Apart from the CRJ-100LR, Proflight also operates three 29-seater Jetstream 41s and two Cessna (single turboprop) 208B Grand Caravans.