The president of the Assembly of the Republic, Esperança Bias, and the national soccer team, the Mambas, were stranded in Lisbon last Wednesday due to debts owed by the company Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) to the Portuguese company Euro-Atlantic Airways (EAA).

According to the newspaper SavannahIn this week's edition, LAM had to find almost three million meticais at once to provide alternative transportation to bring them back to Maputo.

However, LAM gave priority to these VIPs, but left another 104 passengers at Lisbon airport with reservations on Thursday's LAM flight from Lisbon to Maputo.

Despite the agreement with the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), which was supposed to save LAM from bankruptcy, LAM's debts to its suppliers and partners continued to increase.

According to the same publication, yesterday, Thursday, EAA suspended the use of its plane by LAM, claiming that the plane was now on loan to another company. However, in an internal communication from LAM obtained by Savana, the airline claimed that the payment had been delayed due to bank problems, but that the amount was now in EAA's account.

Despite LAM's complaint, EAA sent its ultimatum demanding full payment by June 19. As a result, Thursday's return flight from Lisbon to Maputo was effectively canceled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in Lisbon.

Thus, Esperança Bias and her team, a total of seven people, who were traveling from Cuba to Maputo, LAM paid 2.1 million meticais, through a reputable Mozambican travel agency, Cotur, to send them to Maputo, via Johannesburg, on Emirates Airways, in business class.

The Mambas, who had traveled to Casablanca, had a more complicated journey, flying to Maputo via Luanda and Johannesburg. LAM had to pay for 21 members of the Mambas team, which cost 1.2 million meticais.

Meanwhile, the other 104 passengers had to wait until today, Friday, when EAA, after negotiations, gave in and allowed them to use its plane.