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Zimbabwe
Featured airline this month Air Zimbabwe |
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Zimbabwe News |
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British Airways increases fuel surcharge |
| Long haul passengers on British Airways face an increase in the cost of their tickets after the airline announced an increase in its fuel surcharge.
BA ha said that passengers will fa ... |
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2010 World Cup - Airzim to Boost Fleet |
| Air Zimbabwe is considering either acquiring or leasing more passenger planes to boost its fleet ahead of the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa, the Minister of Transport and Com ... |
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Air Zim Asks CBZ, ZABG to Replace Fleet |
| AIR Zimbabwe which has been in a financial crisis for the past eight years has approached the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) and Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG) for funds to repl ... |
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British Airways abandons flights to Zimbabwe |
| British Airways’ final flight from Harare landed at Heathrow last night, closing a chapter in links between Britain and Zimbabwe. BA152 was the final service of a route the airline said ... |
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2010 World Cup - Airzim to Boost Fleet |
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| Air Zimbabwe is considering either acquiring or leasing more passenger planes to boost its fleet ahead of the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Cde Christopher Mushohwe has said.
Cde Mushohwe said Airzim currently has a fleet of only eight planes. "Air Zimbabwe will either acquire or lease modern aircrafts to meet demand. It is true that the airline in conjunction with the ministry has been looking at the possibility of acquiring additional aircrafts. We have talked to the Russians, the Chinese, Boeing, Airbus and Ambrea," he said.
The minister said the airline has been talking to major aircraft
>manufacturing a 100-seater jet. I went to see what they are doing and see if there is scope for us to discuss with them in the future." The Government and Airzim, said the minister, were working on beefing up the national airline ahead of 2010. There are consented efforts to recapitalise the airline.
Airzim is also in talks with international airlines to form strategic alliances. "But the kind of relationship Air Zimbabwe seeks is real strategic alliance. They are discussing with Gulf Air, Emirates and Qatar. I am aware that with preparations for 2010, there is need to look beyond the issue of strategic partners," Cde Mushohwe said.
Plans are also underway for the airline to increase its local and international destinations. "Air Zimbabwe is now flying to Luanda. Plans are at an advanced stage for them to fly to Brussels in Belgium. We are in discussions with Qatar and India. Plans are also underway to fly to Moscow (Russia) and Teheran. All those markets are being explored now and market surveys are underway," he said.
In the region, the national airline is considering to venture into Mozambique and to increase flights to Angola. On the upgrading of the country\'s airports, Cde Mushohwe was certain that the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe would do the job on time.
"Despite the fact that they have been affected by the shortage of foreign currency, CAAZ is doing everything possible to make sure we get to 2010 with a state-of-the-art airport at Victoria Falls. "The Victoria Falls airport would be ready to accommodate any size of aircraft by 2010. CAAZ is in discussions with world class airport developers," Cde Mushohwe said.
Last year, CAAZ chief executive officer Mr David Chawota pledged before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communications that by December 31, 2007 the authority would have found a contractor. Cde Mushohwe could not say when the discussions between CAAZ and the strategic partners would be concluded. "As to when, it depends on the nature of the discussions." He said such discussions were done with due diligence. Cde Mushohwe expressed satisfaction with the work being done by the Air Zimbabwe board and management led by Mr Mike Bimha and Dr Peter Chikumba, respectively.
On the withdrawal of other airlines from Zimbabwe, the minister said it had nothing to do with the viability of routes they plied.
British Airways and Zambian Airways withdrew their services from Zimbabwe late last year. "I am not surprised that the BA pulled out. The then country representative of BA came to see me and indicated they were having economic problems with their route to Harare. I told him the London-Harare route was the most lucrative with every flight to and from London at 80 percent load factor," he said.
"I personally think that while it may be true that they were not having the best facilities, I strongly suspect that the British Government had a hand in the pulling out of the BA." On Zambian Airways, the minister said the airline was small, insignificant and might have withdrawn due to lack of capacity to continue servicing the route.
He said good relations remained between Zambian Airways and Air Zimbabwe by a way of code sharing. |
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