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Transport, Works Supply & Communications
TOTAL service station at Chaisa
Lusaka International Airport
Ndola International Airport
Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa, which
have had the effect of assisting cross-border trade
and traffic.
Petrol is available at most of the major towns, but
gets more expensive as one gets further from the
railway line. If travelling in the more remote areas,
drivers are advised to take extra supplies, as avail-
ability is not always guaranteed. Also, drivers must
make sure to have all their vehicle papers on hand
as encounters with police safety checkpoints are
very frequent.
AIR TRANSPORT
The central position of Zambia makes it a natural
hub for air transportation in the region as flights to
and from the South have to pass through Zambian
airspace.
There are four international airports, namely, Lu-
saka, Livingstone, Mfuwe and Ndola, with several
provincial aerodromes at all provincial capitals in
Chipata, Kitwe, Kasama, Mansa, Mongu, Solwezi
and Mansa. The National Airports Corporation, a
government owned parastatal organization, oper-
ates the four international airports while the Provin-
cial and district Aerodromes fall under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Civil Aviation. There are also
some private aerodromes in selected areas across
the country. However, situated 27 kilometres from
the centre of the city of Lusaka, Lusaka International
Airport is Zambia’s main airport that connects the
country to the rest of the world.
Following the liquidation of the state-owned Zam-
bia Airways in 1995, the air transport sector went
through a period of liberalization to encourage pri-
vate sector participation. In the following years, a
number of private local airlines emerged to fill the
gap left by the absence of a national carrier. Sub-
sequently various Bilateral Air Services Agreements
have been signed with other states whose airlines
were interested in operating routes in Zambia and
vice-versa.
New developments in the industry include the 2009
launch of Zambezi Airlines, which offers scheduled
flights to Johannesburg, Dar-es-Salaam, Nairobi and
Lilongwe, using Boeing 737-500 series aircraft. Prof-
light is Zambezi Airline’s domestic partner.
Zambian Airways (unrelated to Zambia Airways),
which for some years operated an extensive domes-
tic route network within Zambia as well as interna-
tional flights to South Africa, Tanzania and the DRC,
suspended operations on 10 January 2009.
Rehabilitation work in the past few years has in-
cluded improvements to the runway and buildings
at Lusaka International Airport. Chipata Airport has
been rehabilitated and reopened, and the length of
the runway at Livingstone International has been
increased from 2.3 to 3 kilometres to facilitate long-
haul flights. For 2010, there is an allocation of K 15.7
billion for the rehabilitation of airports and airstrips
across the country. Of this amount, K 5 billion is for