Mozambique Airlines (LAM) plans to resume flights between Maputo and Lisbon in the first half of November, an official source said.

Final negotiations are currently underway between LAM and Portuguese airline EuroAtlantic Airways over the use of the latter's Boeing 767 aircraft, which can carry 279 passengers, according to sources quoted by AIM.

EuroAtlantic Airways has permanent parking lots at Lisbon airport, which will greatly help the operation of the route.

According to the same sources, the first company contacted by LAM had no guaranteed space on the apron, a situation that delayed and led to the end of negotiations.

In the negotiations, LAM is being supported by Fly Modern Ark, the South African company hired by the Mozambican government to rescue LAM from technical bankruptcy and make it profitable.

"We returned from Lisbon this week and are finalizing this process. We have already identified a partner with a good aircraft and by mid-November we will start the route," said a representative of Fly Modern Ark quoted by AIM.

The representative also revealed that when Fly Modern Ark and LAM's current management decided to reopen the Maputo-Lisbon route, they were convinced that LAM had a license for the operation. It was only when they arrived in Portugal to work on the project that they discovered that the license had expired in 2012.

It should be noted that Fly Modern Ark has a one-year contract with the government to restructure LAM in order to make it profitable by reducing debt, introducing new aircraft and increasing passengers.