Flying the Flag High for Zambia

A fixture in Zambia’s aviation industry for 22 years, ProFlight Zambia’s story is one that parallels the nation’s development since the IMF mandated structural reforms of 1991. The nation’s former national carrier, Zambia Airways, was one of the many casualties of the lender mandated restructuring. Tony Irwin, a former Zambia Airways pilot, founded ProFlight that same year, and has since strived to put Zambia back on the international aviation map. Beginning with a single plane, the airline has grown steadily over the years and carried 110,000 passengers in 2012. “The early steps of growth are more difficult until you pick up the momentum,” Tony Irwin, Managing Director, explains.

From its base in Lusaka, ProFlight now serves ten destinations nationally with regularly scheduled flights to Livingstone, Mfuwe, Lower Zambezi, Ndola, Solwezi, Chipata, Mansa and Kasama. 2013 was a banner year for the airline, with its capacity growing to keep up with the demand in Zambia’s flourishing economy. The airline was also able to begin serving international passengers with routes to Lilongwe, Malawi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, thus capitalizing on Zambia’s strategic location in the heart of south central Africa. Tony Irwin believes that one of the crucial elements for the airline’s success has been its staff. “I believe that an airline is as much about people as it is about airplanes.”

ProFlight is proud to have been a partner in national development over the years, and takes seriously its role as a symbol of the country’s aviation industry. “You can carry the flag without being a national carrier,” Tony Irwin says. With a burgeoning mining sector in the Copperbelt region, and Zambia’s heightened profile as an international tourism destination by virtue of the UNWTO conference in Livingstone this year, the country’s economic prospects have propelled ProFlight forward. “The strides that Zambia has made over the last ten years with the economy growing six to seven percent have allowed us to grow.”

In return, Proflight has made its own significant contribution to the development of key sectors of the economy. Zambia’s Minister of Tourism and Arts, Sylvia Masebo, commented, “Without Proflight, our tourism would not be where it is today. This airline has made such a great contribution.”

With twenty-two years of history behind it, ProFlight remains committed to its role within the country and is looking ahead to a bright future. “We’re here to stay,” Irwin emphasizes. “Zambia is a place where things are happening.”