Ethiopian Airlines has signed an agreement with Zambia's main development agency to re-launch the South African country's airline for an initial cost of $ 30 million.

The Ethiopian state-owned companies have outdid the regional competitors Kenya Airways and South African Airways to become the largest airline in Africa by revenue and profit, and bought shares in other African airlines to gain a competitive advantage over rivals such as those in the Gulf. .

According to the plan, Zambia Airways, which was revived more than two decades after it was closed, will operate 12 aircraft by 2028, Ethiopian Airlines said in a joint statement with Zambia's Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

Ethiopian Airlines will own 45 percent of the renewed Zambian airline and Zambia 55 percent, according to the statement.

"The initial investment in the start-up of the national company is $ 30 million, and it is clear that while we are operating the airline, we will facilitate the funding needed to support growth," he said.

Ethiopian Airlines said in January that it had signed an agreement with the Zambian government to re-launch Zambia Airways.

Zambia Airways will launch local and regional routes this year, while intercontinental routes, including Europe, the Middle East and Asia, will be added in the near future, it said.

Zambia Airways, state-owned, went into liquidation in 1994. The private Zambian Airways then became the most important airline in the country with flights to other major hubs in southern Africa, but stopped operations in 2009.

Ethiopian Airlines operates and manages Malawi Airlines through an agreement signed in 2013.

In May, the airline said it was in talks with Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea to set up airlines through joint ventures. The goal was also to create a new airline in Mozambique that will fully own it.

Ethiopia said in June that it would open Ethiopian Airlines and its government-led telecoms monopoly for private domestic and foreign investment in a major policy change, weakening the state's grip on the economy.

Source: Reuters