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NewsDay

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Parly cracks whip on Air Zim

Business
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure has asked board members of Air Zimbabwe to present Curriculum Vitaes (CVs) to Parliament by tomorrow as it moves to stem the rot at the airline.

THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure has asked board members of Air Zimbabwe to present Curriculum Vitaes (CVs) to Parliament by tomorrow as it moves to stem the rot at the airline.

BY VICTORIA MTOMBA

The move comes amid growing sentiments within Parliament that the current board is unfit to give the troubled airline new wings.

In an interview yesterday, the chairperson for the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Dexter Nduna said the national carrier needed strategic thinkers who were absent in the current board.

“We do not see it in the present board. We asked for their qualifications and there were quite a lot of inconsistencies. So we have requested for their CVs to be presented to Parliament this Friday [tomorrow],” Nduna said.

The Air Zim board is chaired by Abdulman Harid who is a former Commissioner of Taxes.

Other members include Gift Noko, Rudo Faranisi, Luckson Muzondo, Patience Zenda, Edwin Zvandasara, Austin Simbai Mpinyuri and Tadiwanashe Mukudzeyi Mangwengwende.

Nduna said the national airline was flying close to 40 passengers on the Boeing 767 and 737 planes.

The 767 and 737 have carrying capacities of 200 and 105 passengers respectively.

“The airline is carrying plus or minus 40 passengers not once but every time they are flying, which is 40%. But the handling fees, landing fees remain constant because of the weight of the aircraft and the size of the aircraft,” the Chegutu West legislator said. He said the board needs to do some promotions to pay for the expenses but the committee was not pleased with the company’s explanation on running promotions.

Nduna said the board has failed to resolve the sticking issue of departure tax which compels passengers to visit Air Zimbabwe and Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe points to pay. The move, Nduna said, results in the airline losing passengers to competitors. Other airlines factor in the departure tax on the price of a ticket.

Nduna said the national airline does not have Internet Booking Engine which allows customers to book flights online and it costs $53 000. He said the national airline told the transport and infrastructure committee that they have already paid $38 000 towards that but it still requires additional funding.

“The opinion of the committee is that the marketing team for Air Zimbabwe is non-existent,” Nduna said.

He said government will try to scale down the $298 million debt that the national airline has and the committee would engage treasury to provide $2,7 million for the International Air Transport Association registration.