Proflight Zambia says it has put its flights to Kasama on hold pending modifications to the larger aircraft it plans to deploy on the route.
The airline had assigned a larger 29-seat Jetstream 41 aircraft to its Kasama routes from January 1, 2019 in the expectation that the town’s runway will be tarred.
Proflight Director of Government and Industry Affairs Captain Philip Lemba says delays to that process mean the landing strip remains gravelled and unsuitable for that aircraft.
Captain Lemba says all passengers holding tickets for these flights will receive a full refund.
The airline says it expects its flights from Lusaka and Ndola to Kasama to be suspended for January until April 2019.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers who had already booked their flights and were wishing to book flights on the route. All passengers holding tickets for these flights will receive a full refund,” said Capt. Lemba.
“Proflight is a proudly Zambian airline committed to connecting passengers across the country, and Kasama is an important route to us so we are working as hard as possible to resolve the issue,” he added.
The airline expects its flights from Lusaka and Ndola to Kasama to be suspended for January until April 2019.
Proflight has been servicing Kasama for more than six years offering direct daily flights from Ndola and Lusaka using a 12-seat C208 Caravan aircraft.
Initially, Kasama airport was scheduled to be upgraded into a tarred runway in 2017 but work was postponed until June 2018, then November 2018.
On that basis, Proflight assigned its larger Jetstream 41 aircraft to the route.
With the runway remaining gravel, Proflight will resume flights to Kasama once the aircraft has been modified to suit the gravel runway, a process expected to take about two months.
Proflight operates a 50-seater Bombardier CRJ-100 jet, 50-seat Bombardier Dash 8-300, three 29-seater Jetstream 41 aircraft and two C208 Caravans.

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