A good option for those wishing to experience tourism in Mozambique is to travel by train or plane. However, few realize that Mozambique Airlines, our flagship airline, operates from locomotives.
According to documents from the Ports and Railways of Mozambique, to understand the history of Mozambican aviation, it is necessary to delve into the past of the railway sector.
It all begins in colonial times, when the Ports and Railways Services of the Colony of Mozambique was an industrial company of the colonial state.
This company was responsible, among other things, for promoting and executing the study and construction of ports and railways, as well as establishing any other means of transportation connected to railway operations. It was also responsible for commercial and industrial operations of the ports and railways.
Thus, in 1930, on the initiative of the CFM, the Automobile Trucking Service was created, a fast, safe, and economical transportation service that was crucial to agricultural development and the promotion of trade.
It brought "products from the interior to railway stations for supplying local markets and for export by sea, successfully replacing rail transport when traffic was insufficient to justify it," explains CFM.
Later, in 1936, the Air Transport Operations Directorate (DETA) was created, a division of CFM that became the first airline established in this territory to operate regular flights within the country and to neighboring countries.
"Facing numerous difficulties, as there were no aircraft, pilots, or any experience in air transport management, the Mozambique Railways built a solid company with a long tradition of excellent service. DETA was dissolved in 1983, and Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) was created in its place," writes CFM.
(By MozaVibe)
