LAM in Freefall: The Announced Collapse of National Aviation

Luis Munguambe Junior"

There was a time when flying LAM was a symbol of pride. It wasn’t just a plane ride, it was a reflection of the Mozambican dream of independence and progress. Today, that dream is in constant turbulence, engines are failing, and the airline seems headed for a forced landing.

In the terminals, chaos has become routine. Passengers crammed together, announcements of cancelled flights, unexplained delays and a frustration that spreads like smoke from a broken engine. What was once the exception is now the rule. The question that echoes through the corridors is no longer “What time do we board?”, but rather “Will we board?”

LAM's problem goes beyond mechanics. What condemns it are not just its aging planes or inefficient services, but the silent corruption that has been eating away at it for decades. A company where investment disappears like a flight with no return, where management prefers to hide the crisis in empty reports rather than face reality.

And while planes remain grounded, prices continue to rise to absurd heights. Flying is no longer an option for the average citizen, but a privilege for a select few. The rest, with no alternatives, are forced to make do with improvised travel, potholed roads, overloaded buses, and the risks of a journey that should never have been the only option.

But what is most frightening is not the cancelled flights or the unobtainable tickets. What is frightening is the silence. The silence of a government that watches, inertly, the collapse of the company. The silence of a management that avoids accountability. The silence of a country that sees its largest airline fall apart, without anyone daring to take control and try to save what is still left.

Is there still time to avoid disaster? Or has LAM already passed the point of no return? If nothing is done, the company's fate is already written: it will be just another forgotten chapter in history, a promise that once took flight but never managed to reach its destination.

2025/12/3