As economies start to relax pandemic lockdown protocols, airline business will seek to claw back lost business from suppressed activity in the last one year plus. Despite a turbulent operating environment given a plummet in tourism activity and general travel to and from Zambia, Proflight Zambia an indigenous airline has stood the test of time with solid operational resilience in the pandemic time. Proflight will now seek to leverage off a re-opening Southern Africa to connect Livingstone, Zambia’s tourist capital, to the richest city in Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.
With the suspension of South African Airline flights between Livingstone and Johannesburg, Airlink flights between Mpumalanga and Livingstone and British Airways flights between Johannesburg and Livingstone, Proflight will seek to leverage off the lacuna in flights to service demand which it forecasts will increase steadily. With approval for the Livingstone route, which it will in a phased approach, the airline will go ahead of the air transport curve early enough despite subdued demand commencing April. Proflight will alter its flight times between Lusaka and Livingstone to enable smooth connections to their Lusaka-Johannesburg flights 4-times weekly.
Once demand picks up, Proflight plans to introduce a direct Johannesburg-Livingstone service, making it the first airline to operate the route since South Africa reopened its airports late last year.
“We are extremely proud to be the first ones in Zambia to be offering this connection after South Africa begins relaxing COVID19 travel restrictions,” Proflight Zambia Director Flight Operations Captain Josias Walubita.
“As a safety conscious airline, we have already put in place strict guidelines to ensure our passengers and staff are protected from COVID19. Passenger safety and comfort remain our biggest priorities,” he stressed.
Captain Walubita noted that reopening the route would facilitate tourism and trade between the two tourist hot spots and help re-ignite economies still reeling from the effects of COVID19.
The first flight connecting Livingstone with Joburg via Lusaka is scheduled for April 09.
The Kwacha Arbitrageur