FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WITH PICTURES
NOVEMBER 28, 2025
CAPTAIN PRELLER KOPOLO: AN AVIATION STALWART RETIRES
Proflight Zambia’s Captain Preller Kopolo and the Legacy He Leaves in the Zambian Skies
LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – When Proflight Zambia’s flight PO303 touched down at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka on October 26, it was met with a water salute from the airport’s fire trucks – a ceremonial tribute reserved for special occasions and key milestones in aviation. On the tarmac, pilots, engineers, cabin crew, and Proflight Zambia staff gathered in applause to the surprise and delight of passengers who had boarded earlier that morning, unaware that they were about to become part of history.
And the reason for all the grandeur was the man sitting at the controls and whose name has long been synonymous with Zambian aviation: Captain Preller Kopolo, affectionately known across the industry as Bashikulu Musonda.
After more than 45 years in the sky, flying heads of state, training generations of pilots, and carrying Zambia’s wings with exemplified dignity, this flight from Ndola to Lusaka would be his last commercial flight. And fittingly, it would take place on his 65th birthday, also the standard age limit for commercial airline pilots. For a man whose life has been measured in take-offs and landings, completing his final commercial journey on the day he reached this turning point felt almost poetic.
But endings, especially in aviation, often have a beauty of their own.
“To fly my final commercial flight on my birthday…it all came full circle,” said Captain Kopolo. “I have loved aviation from the day I first set foot on an aircraft. It has defined my life, my discipline, my joy. Serving Zambia’s skies to the very last eligible day is a privilege I will cherish forever.”
The Man Behind the Uniform
Despite a career filled with milestones, Captain Kopolo is intensely humble.
Ask him about his proudest moments and he won’t mention flying presidents or accumulating tens of thousands of hours. Instead, he speaks about the young pilots he has mentored. “If the next generation flies better than we did, then we have done our job,” he said. “That is how aviation grows. That is how a nation grows.”
A Destiny Written in the Sky
Born in 1960, Captain Kopolo’s love for flight began early. On his 19th birthday, he boarded his first flight, a Zambia Airways Boeing 707 bound for the United Kingdom; a moment he often said, “changed his life.”
He came of age in a time when President Kenneth Kaunda was championing aviation as a pillar of national progress. Institutions such as Zambia Air Services Training Institute (ZASTI) grew out of that vision, nurturing a generation of Zambian aviators.
The legendary Captain Kopolo’s career spanned the golden era of Zambia Airways, he went on to fly in Kenya and then on to finally enter a defining chapter with Zambia’s leading scheduled airline Proflight Zambia — where he became a pillar of flight operations and a guardian of safety.
A Career that Mirrors Zambia’s Aviation Story
His life’s work reflects the nation’s aviation journey; bold beginnings, turbulence, reinvention, and resurgence.
From the first Zambia Airways glory days to the rise of Proflight Zambia as a modern regional carrier, Kopolo has witnessed and contributed to every chapter of Zambia’s aviation evolution.
Today, Proflight stands as a proudly Zambian airline, flying the nation’s spirit across the region alongside the revamped national carrier. And in that ascent, Captain Kopolo’s influence is unmistakable.
The Birthday Flight That Closed a Chapter
Far more than a routine journey, the flight from Lusaka to Ndola and back became a celebration of a man who has embodied the spirit of Zambian aviation.
“Captain Kopolo has been a steadying force in our cockpit teams,” said Proflight Zambia Director of Flight Operations, Captain Josias Walubita. “He represents everything we want young Zambian pilots to aspire to: discipline, humility and patriotism. His retirement marks the end of an era, but also the beginning of a new chapter for those he has trained and inspired.”
Throughout his time at Proflight, Captain Kopolo played a major role in developing the airline’s safety policies and culture, guiding young First Officers into confident Captains, and keeping alive the ethos of professionalism that defined Zambia’s earliest aviators.
Smooth Landings, Lift Offs and Mid-Air Epiphanies
For the younger generation, his presence in the cockpit was transformative; flying with Captain Kopolo always felt like attending one masterclass after another.
He has taught young pilots how to operate an aircraft, how to think, how to remain calm under pressure, how to carry themselves with dignity. This sentiment is echoed across Proflight Zambia; Captain Preller Kopolo did not just pass the baton, he shaped it.
Passing the Baton
As the sun sets on his commercial flying career, Captain Preller Kopolo steps back as one whose influence will continue for decades. He passes on a set of values that transcend any flight plan such as; Discipline. Humility. Precision. Love for Zambia. And an unshakeable belief in the power of local talent.
Even though he will no longer be flying, he remains in his role as Chief Pilot, where he will continue to manage and mentor the Proflight Zambia team of pilots.
Final Approach
As flight PO303 received its sunset water salute, Proflight Zambia celebrated not just the career culmination of a distinguished gentleman but of a life spent in service.
And so, from the skies he mastered, the airline he helped shape, and the nation whose flag he carried with dignity, to the future of Zambian aviation that he helped build one flight, one lesson, one young aviator at a time, rises a toast and echoes of resounding applause.
Captain Preller Kopolo’s commercial flying career may have landed, but his legacy remains forever airborne.
-Ends-
About Proflight Zambia
Proflight Zambia, established in 2005, is Zambia’s leading schedule airline. Operating from its base in Lusaka its domestic routes include Kalumbila, Kasama, Livingstone, Mansa, Mfuwe, Ndola, and Solwezi, with seasonal safari routes to Jeki/Royal airstrips in Lower Zambezi National Park. The airline’s regional flights include South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, operating between Lusaka and Johannesburg, Lusaka and Cape Town (via Livingstone), Livingstone and Cape Town direct, Lusaka and Windhoek (via Livingstone), Livingstone and Windhoek direct, Lusaka and Maun (via Livingstone), and Livingstone and Maun direct.
The airline prides itself in providing a safe, reliable, efficient, and friendly service, and offering good value to business and leisure travellers locally and internationally.
The airline operates five 50-seater Bombardier CRJ-200 jets, one Bombardier CRJ-100 parcel freighter jet, and five 29-seater Jetstream 41 turboprop aircraft.
More information is available at www.flyzambia.com.
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Gillian Langmead at Langmead & Baker Ltd;
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