Mozambique building $102 million airport

Nacala - Mozambique is building an airport at a cost of $102 million US in the northern city of Nacala in an attempt to attract tourists and investments, Times Live reported.

The Times Live reported that transport Minister Manuela Ribelo told AFP that the construction of the Nacala international Airport has already commenced. “It will cost $102 million,” Ribelo was quoted as saying. Nacala has Mozambique’s only Deep Water Port and could serve as an export route for landlocked Zambia and Malawi once a Railway line is built. Times Live reported that the country’s president, Armando Guebuza inaugurated a new passenger and cargo terminal at Vilankulo airport. Vilankulo Airport recently got a face lift to almost triple its capacity to receive over 200 000 passengers per year. The facelift is reported to have cost $10 million US Construction has also started at the Maputo International Airport which was overhauled at $75 million US last year to accommodate 900 000 passengers per year. According to the Independent, a military base is being relocated to make way for the airport which will facilitate travel to a city in the underdeveloped north. Mozambique is one of the countries whose Airlines have been banned by an executive body of the European Union due to what they deemed “failure by the Airlines to observe safety standards”. Mozambican Airlines however has continued to fly between Portugal and Maputo using a leased Boeing 767 leased from EuroAtlantic.