By KENNEDY MUPESENI –

PROFLIGHT Zambia has reduced flight fares by five per cent following the removal of customs duty on aviation fuel at the same percentage.
Proflight director of government and industry affairs Philip Lemba said in a statement that ticket prices would drop by five per cent with immediate effect following the government’s elimination of duty that came into effect this month.
The goodwill gesture to passengers comes despite the fact that fuel represents around 30 percent of Proflight’s costs, and thus overall savings to the airline are only around 1.5 percent of total costs.
In addition, fuel stocks from 2014 are still being used, hence the duty removal has not yet been passed on to the airline by suppliers,” Captain Lemba said.
He said notwithstanding the fare reduction, the aviation sector was a United States dollar-intensive industry, with much of its costs denominated in foreign exchange, including aircraft leasing and maintenance, and thus the depreciation of the kwacha in recent months had driven up costs in kwacha terms.
“Last year was a tough year in the domestic market with very little growth in demand. Competition from international carriers flying direct to Ndola and Livingstone has also hampered domestic traffic growth,” he said.
Capt Lemba said this year also promised to be a difficult year as more competition came into the market.
There were concerns that international carriers entering the market would employ predatory pricing tactics in order buy market shares.
It was hoped that the steep decline in oil prices on the world market would translate into meaningful reductions in the cost of jet fuel.
Capt Lemba said despite a slowdown in growth international passengers, the airline had seen growth in domestic tourism as the Zambian economy continue to grow, and hoped the trend would continue.