By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
LOCAL economist Noel Nkhoma has advised Government against having the major stake in the operations of the Zambian airline.
This follows the establishment of the company to operate as Zambia Airways 2014 Limited, which will be a successor of the defunct Zambia Airways which ceased operations  in 1994.

. Nkhoma

Mr Nkhoma said Government should give the private sector 80 per cent and return 20 per cent to successfully manage the operations.
He said Government should further ensure they engage a professional airline like  Lufthansa, Kenyan Airways or Emirates, to provide technical expertise.
“The airline is a complex business to run as it requires huge amounts of money which Government does not have considering the current challenges it is facing.
Airlines like South African, have succeeded because they are heavily subsidised by the government,” Mr Nkhoma said.
Mr Nkhoma, however said that this would boost the tourism industry in that the number of arrivals will increase.
He cited Botswana which has a small airline, but that it was able to register two million arrivals against Zambia.
In the 2016 national Budget, Government  allocated K498.4 million for the expansion of the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and the establishment of a national airline.
Government recently announced that the long-awaited national airline had finally been incorporated and would operate as Zambia Airways 2014 Limited, which would be a successor of the defunct Zambia Airways.