As part of the process of privatisation of the mines, MAS was disposed of by the government of Zambia on 28 April 1998.

The company has been operating these two aircraft since then, under the trading name of Zambian Airways.

[citation needed] On 10 January 2009, the company announced it was suspending operations citing high fuel costs as the main reason.

Shareholders were not available for comment in order to answer questions about when or if the airline may commence operations again, but according to the Zambian Minister of Communications and Transport, Dora Siliya, 41 passengers had been stranded in Johannesburg as a direct result of the airline suspension of operations.

The Zambian government announced on 9 February 2009, that it intended to sue Zambian Airways in order to recover the money the airline owes various firms.