Transport and Communications Minister Hon Mutotwe Kafwaya says the global aviation industry has been negatively affected by the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) which he says will have an impact on countries’ economies.
Hon Kafwaya says movements of people and cargo have reduced following the outbreak of the disease.
He said this when he featured on Sun FM Zambia’s special program on Monday afternoon in Ndola.
“The global aviation industry has lost business because of the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19). We had South African Airways flying into Zambia five times a day, Air Link, Ethiopian Airways, Emirates flying five times a week and others, but now only one airline is able to fly into Zambia which is Ethiopian Airways. Sometimes they come with two passengers and in worst scenarios even one passenger. This is the extent to which the global aviation industry has lost business because of COVID-19,” said the Minister.
Hon Kafwaya said players in the aviation sector have to rethink on how to address the impact the disease has caused in the industry.
He reminded the program listeners that President Lungu ordered the closure of three international airports in Zambia namely Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe in Ndola, Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula in Livingston and Mfuwe International Airport in Eastern Province as a preventive measure to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
He also took time to encourage the listeners to remain at home safely or if they are moving in public to observe social distance and wear face masks so as not to contract the virus.
He emphasized the need for all busses to ensure that their passengers wear masks at all times.
Why should even one Airline be allowed to land.?Even with one or
Two passengers can transmit.So
The best solution Is to stop Ethiopian airlines coming in until
The pandemic slows down.
For those in the aviation industry give us data, are parking fees more costly compared to flying those tubes even without or only with 1 passenger?
And Zambia wanted to start its own airline last year!!!!!
Close all incoming airlines for the best of slowdowns the pandemic
This thing is worse than HIV guys – it is not transmitted by consent or pleasure. It is transmitted by vectors similar to the common flu. Awe shuwa!
I find it really hard to believe that an airline can fly just 1 or 2 passengers. The amount of aviation fuel an aeroplane burns in order to fly is too enormous and it makes no business sense to fly 2 passengers. To put this into perspective, a 727 aeroplane would require about 10,800 litres of fuel on a one way flight between Lusaka and Adis Ababa. So a single round trip would guzzel about $22,000 fuel in fuel costs. The airline must be flying in more people than what we are being told.
People are under lockdown. They are not travelling. Whose fault is it?
A stark reminder to all citizens that tough times lie ahead. No one knew this virus would attack the world and all global players did not prepare for such an unknown virus. We in government have pumped in money via ministry of finance to help cushion the adverse effects. However not all industries can be saved or rather adequately helped. We will all need to tighten our belts and sacrifice a little. I have since two months ago volunteered to cut my salary by 20 percent. What are the rest of you doing to help?
The people who fly are the ones who brought the virus. The rich and middle class. The poor are just victims. Shame!
THE PATRIO, it does make sense for an airline to fly with 1 or 2 passengers if that flight is just a leg or stop over of a longer route where it might be picking up more people. It is also possible that on an inbound flight, the airline has 2 people but the outbound flight is completely full. It is for this reason that for many airline routes the inbound and outbound flights might not cost the same because one leg might always have more demand than the other. The above applies under normal circumstance, which is not the current case right now.
Blabla, which leg or stopover because most of Africa is under lockdown to international traffic? Zambia must be the only country in Southern Africa which is still open to air traffic. Then we will wonder one day how the pandemic got out of control.
Reference KAISER Zulu, has your boss cut his salary? Why are you cutting by 20% only?
Let ethiopian also stop for now because (1) they might continue transmitting the virus between countries and (2) it’s not profitable at the moment flying with one or two passengers as it is. Only ethiopian cargo planes to continue to bring in medical supplies.
This government is packed with ama lufyono .Stop this airline from landing in Zambia if you serious about flattening the corona virus curve