Struggling national airline, Air Zimbabwe plunged to new lows on Saturday after it flew three passengers to South Africa, one of the busiest routes for airlines.
BY NDAMU SANDU
One of the passengers on the plane, businessman, Shingi Munyeza, took to microblogging site Twitter to show the pathetic state of affairs at the airline.
“A rare privilege for me with two other passengers aboard AirZim flight UM9461. Three passengers Harare to Johannesburg on Airbus A320, departure delayed by one hour,” he tweeted.
The Harare to Johannesburg route is a cash cow for airlines and is dominated by South African Airways, which has 21 flights per week. Other airlines on the route include British Airways (through Comair) and low cost carrier, fastjet Zimbabwe. Rainbow Airlines will debut on the route on Sunday.
Munyeza told NewsDay yesterday that one of the passengers had a 9pm connecting flight, which he missed.
He said State-owned enterprises are crucial in economic growth and development, provided they are efficiently run, adding that Air Zimbabwe’s role was important in driving economic growth and tourism.
“My experience and view is that it needs immediate restructuring, investment and critical strategic alliances to make it commercially viable. The current business model and structure is draining the Treasury, which is unsustainable,” Munyeza said.
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An aviation expert said yesterday that it was better to cancel the flight and put passengers in a hotel. He said there were costs, which are fixed whether the airline flies three passengers or is full. The fixed costs include fuel, insurance, maintenance, landing fees and crew.
The expert warned this was a “tell-tale sign of worse things to come”. “This route is a cash cow. It means passengers are shunning the airline. These guys are in trouble,” the expert said.
Air Zimbabwe board chairperson, Chipo Dyanda said she had not heard about the incident and referred NewsDay to CEO, Ripton Muzenda.
“It’s an operational issue that I cannot answer. You ask the CEO on that,” she said.
Muzenda’s mobile number was unavailable. The new low comes as Air Zimbabwe is undergoing a restructuring exercise to give the airline new wings. Last year, the airline appointed Muzenda as the CEO and the First Family’s son-in-law, Simba Chikore as the chief operating officer.
The airline is battling to get readmission into the International Air Transport Association (Iata). The airline was kicked out of Iata in 2012 after failing to pay the fees.
This is not the first time that Air Zimbabwe has broken aviation records, for the wrong reasons. In 2015, the airline flew one passenger from Johannesburg in a 105-seater 737 plane.
In September 2011, the airline again flew one passenger from Victoria Falls to Harare. In 2006, the troubled airline also flew one passenger from Dubai to Harare.
In 2012, a captain and a senior flight attendant were suspended after the airline flew in more passengers than the required 105 on the Boeing 737 aircraft.
