The Minister of Transport and Communications admits that the announcement of the return of Mozambican state-owned airline LAM to flights to Lisbon is already being reflected in prices. However, Mateus Magala also calls for Portugal to make it easier to issue visas.

"I'm very happy that this has happened, because it's the people who win. That's right, the consumer. So prices can't be a mechanism to separate people, to exclude people from opportunities," said the minister, admitting that LAM's announcement of a return to direct flights between Maputo and Lisbon as of December has already led Portuguese airline TAP to lower fares on the same routes.

"I'm happy that TAP has done this, because it will lead to competition. We want to be competitive, we don't want to be monopolists, we don't want to be favored with protectionism. Therefore, I think that LAM will stand up and have a respectable fight and we will position ourselves in this market, offering quality services and greater safety for consumers," said Mateus Magala, quoted by Lusa.

The state-owned airline Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) announced at the end of last month that it will be resuming the connection between Maputo and Lisbon from December 12, two years after it was interrupted.

LAM and TAP are thus the only two airlines with direct flights between Maputo and Lisbon.

Minister Magala was also quoted by Lusa as saying that making it easier to issue visas for Mozambicans, as is the case in Mozambique for Portuguese citizens, is the next necessary step.

"We will continue to work with the Portuguese authorities. To say that the world is becoming a common village and the easiest starting point for building this common village is where there is some historical, cultural, linguistic, economic and other relationship. And Portugal and Mozambique already have hundreds of years of history," said Magala.

"Continuing to have these kinds of barriers to travel is unsustainable. So I think common sense will prevail and we'll have open borders for Mozambicans, as we do for the Portuguese," he added.

According to the announcement made by LAM on October 30, the flights, starting at 25,000 meticais in economy class, will be operated by a Boeing 777, with 302 seats, which will connect the two capitals three times a week, following a partnership with a Portuguese airline operator.

The Mozambican carrier explained that the Maputo-Lisbon route is part of the operator's revitalization plan, after the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA) took over the management of LAM in April this year.

"It's an extraordinary advance. And also occupancy, the level of passengers traveling on our routes has increased significantly. And this is welcome," acknowledged the Minister of Transport and Communications about the management of LAM by the FMA, which has already activated six national and four international routes, including Lisbon.

The aim, he pointed out, is to turn LAM into a "respected" company: "We're not there yet, but the steps that have been taken since April are to be commended. I think the transformation, the change, is going in the direction we would like to see."