Zambia’s Civil Aviation Authority has stated that aviation has been identified to be a key driver and catalyst to Zambia’s development.
The government believes that tourism, transport and logistics are key programmes and part of the transformation of Zambia as a regional transport and logistics hub.
The country’s National Civil Aviation Strategy provides strategic direction in achieving sustainable growth in the sector.
Zambia has seen upgrades of its major three airports, the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in the capital Lusaka, Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Airport in Ndola on the Copperbelt and Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport, in the tourism resort, Livingstone to international certification standards.
The Kenneth Kaunda International Airport project total cost US$360 million to upgrade. The construction of the Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Airport cost US$397 million.
The government further plans to refurbish and upgrade airports in all the provinces of the country.
Zambia Airports Corporation Limited maintain and manage the four designated international airports, namely Kenneth Kaunda in Lusaka, Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe in Ndola, Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula in Livingstone and Mfuwe Airport near the Luangwa National Park.
In 2021, Zambia launched Zambia Airways, the national airline, which currently operates flights in Southern Africa and domestic flights. The government believes that Zambia Airways is a huge boost towards tourism economic activities. The overall trend in passenger numbers is promising and optimistic. Demand for air travel to key business and tourist destinations from Lusaka remains upbeat.
At the start of 2024, Zambia Airports Corporation served 482 400 general passengers, this represents an increase of 20% when compared to the 403 478 passengers recorded at the start of 2023 and a recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels of 119% when compared to the 404 581 passengers recorded in 2019. The highest recovery rate was at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport at 133% recovery and the lowest was at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport at 71% recovery. International passengers recovered by 116% with Kenneth Kaunda recording the highest recovery of 133%. Harry Mwaanga, which mainly serves the tourism industry continued with a slow pace to recovery at only 55%, an increase of 8 percentage points when compared to the same period in 2023.
Airlines like LAM Mozambique Airlines, Flysafair of South Africa and TAAG Angolan Airlines have expressed an interest to restart flights into Zambia. The Civil Aviation Authority has also issued an Air Operators certificate to Sarago Air a new local Zambian operator signifying confidence in the expansion of the sector.
Airlines that fly to Zambia include Kenya Airways, Qatar Airways, RwandAir, Airlink, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Tanzania and Emirates.
