ZAMBIA – Proflight Zambia has expanded its cargo capacity by designating some of its fleet to operate dedicated freight flights between Lusaka and Johannesburg.

The flights which commenced last week will operate every Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout September and will be operated by the Jetstream 41 aircraft and later upgrade to the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) if demand increases.

The aircraft operating the cargo flights have all seats removed beforehand and replaced with cargo nets so cargo is carried meeting industry best practices.

Airline director for flight operations Captain Josias Walubita who will be in the cockpit for some of the flights is confident that the development will help keep Proflight afloat as fewer people are travelling on domestic routes and internationally owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Proflight Zambia has invested in having cargo nets made and effective tie-downs procured to ensure that cargo is safely secured in the cabin”, Captain Walubita said.

Seats on the aircrafts have been removed allowing us to carry all types of cargo including live animals and perishables.

Proflight Zambia’s addition of cargo makes it the only Zambian local airline operating cargo flight services.

The 30 year old airline is Zambia’s leading scheduled airline.

From its base in Lusaka, its domestic routes include Livingstone, Mfuwe, Lower Zambezi, Ndola, Solwezi and regional routes to Durban and Johannesburg in South Africa.

In 2019, Proflight made its maiden flight into the business capital of Africa’s most industrialised nation, South Africa.

This was the airline’s second conduit into South Africa after its Durban route.

That flight departs from Ndola, the capital town of the Copper belt region straight into the business hub of Africa’s City of Gold, Johannesburg.

Proflight’s decision to service the Ndola-Johannesburg route comes in the wake of the rising demand for air travel given the corresponding rise in business pulse and trade between Zambia and South Africa in the last decade.

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