…major climb down to save Air Zim
TAURAI MANGUDHLA/ BERNARD MPOFU
Government has sounded the death knell on controversy-ridden Zimbabwe Airways (ZimAirways) after the struggling national carrier Air Zimbabwe (AirZim) on Monday took receipt of a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft that was initially delivered to Harare in 2018 for ZimAirways, Business Times reports.
The same aircraft, procured under murky deals involving then transport Minister Joram Gumbo and former President Robert Mugabe’s family in 2016, came to Zimbabwe for the second time where Acting President Constantino Chiwenga was guest of honour at Robert Mugabe International Airport.
Business Times sources said it was the same aircraft that had been delivered in 2018 and sent back to Malaysia as Zimbabwe failed to meet its end of the deal.
The plane, the source said, was just repainted to appear new and completely different.
“Yes it is the same plane, we just removed the stickers and repainted it,” said a close source in Zimbabwe’s aviation industry. Transport Minister Joel Matiza confirmed it was the same aircraft that had been previously delivered, although he could not be drawn to shed light on the circumstances around its return to Malaysia.
“Yes it’s the one, the next one is coming in two weeks’ time,” said Matiza as he walked towards his vehicle soon after the event on Monday.
The new plane is by far bigger than what is currently on AirZim’s small fleet, currently with one aircraft flying while the rest is grounded due to technical faults.
Air Zim is currently under judicial management. Because of its size, sources at Air Zim say, the size of the Boeing 777-200ER cannot fit into the hangers at RGM International Airport.
Matiza, however, said a solution was in place. The technicians have assured me that it will fit in,” Matiza said.
AirZim fleet comprises of an Air Bus A320-200, two Boeing767-200, an Embraer ERJ-145 and British Aerospace 146-200.
Government is desperate to shore up Air Zimbabwe, which has been operating with a single aircraft and is weighed down by debts amounting to more than US$300m.
The delivery of the new aircraft will allow Air Zimbabwe to resume international routes such as the United Kingdom and China, which were abandoned nearly 10 years ago due to threats by creditors who wanted to attach its aircraft.
Zimbabwe acquired four Boeing 777-200 planes which had been retired by Malaysian Airlines through the ill-fated Zimbabwe Airways.
But, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration collapsed Zimbabwe Airways which was headed by former president Robert Mugabe’s son-in-law Simba Chikore, and transferred the assets including the planes to Air Zimbabwe.
Speaking after the aircraft touched down Chiwenga said: “The receipt of the aircraft is a clear testimony that we are taking concrete steps to capacitate our national airline so it plays its role in the economy.”
Air Zimbabwe judicial manager Reggie Saruchera said the handover of the new asset marks a major milestone in the reconstruction process of the airline.
“Successful turnaround is anchored on a shared vision and collective effort from all stakeholders,” Saruchera said, adding the company will deploy aircraft in a strategic manner that facilitates growth.
In 2018, former Transport minister Jorum Gumbo told this paper that government was considering merging AirZim and ZimAirways.
“That is very true, what we want to do is to make AirZim fly local and regional routes such as Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo because of the equipment it has.
ZimAirways on the hand will fly international routes because it is currently leasing the bigger jets.
Ultimately we would want Zimbabwe to be a regional hub,” Gumbo said then.
Zimbabwe Airways (ZimAirways) plans to secure an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) were been thrown into disarray after it emerged that the airline had violated the country’s aviation regulations by employing ex-patriates to key positions.
Investigations by this paper indicate that Zim Airways hired expatriates —Razvan Prunean (Manager Continued Airworthiness and Maintenance Organisation), Ionica Raducanu (Manager Safety and Quality), Mark Pierce (Chief Pilot) and Francisco Javier Crespo (Manager Flight Operations)—to obtain an AOC.
ZimAirways had since June 2018 been struggling to pay salaries while at the same time electricity supplies have been disconnected at the company’s office.
The above senior managers have since left the airline throwing the company into a fresh crisis.
Prunean, Raducanu are from Romania while Pierce and Crespo are from South Africa and Spain respectively.
An AOC grants approval by a national aviation authority to an aircraft operator to use its planes for commercial purposes.
Government bought four Boeing 777-200 planes from Malaysia Airlines through their sole agent PricewaterhouseCoopers Kuala Lumpur for its special purpose vehicle called Zimbabwe Aviation Leasing Company which would in turn lease out the aircraft to Zim Airways.
In October 2016, government entered into an agreement with Malaysian Airline System Berha for the sale and purchase of the four aircraft. But government later decided to buy two Boeing 777s for US$18.5m and US$16.5m and later resolved to buy two Embraers using treasury bills.
In March of 2016, government instructed the AirZim board to consider winding down the national airline to pave way for ZimAirways. Air Zim has since been placed under administration.
