BERNARD MPOFU
Zimbabwe Airways (Zim Airways) plans to secure an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) have been thrown into disarray after it emerged that the airline had violated the country’s aviation regulations by employing ex-patriates to key positions, Business Times has established.
Barely four months after Zim Airways took delivery of its Boeing 777-200 acquired from Malaysia, the airline is yet to be fully register as it continues to be funded from treasury coffers after former Transport Minister Joram Gumbo said it was a government project. Initially the minister had said Zim Airways was a private entity being bankrolled by Zimbabweans living outside the country.
This comes at a time the airline has since June been struggling to pay salaries while at the same time electricity supplies have been disconnected at the company’s office.
Investigations by this paper indicate that Zim Airways hired the following expats for the purposes of obtaining an AOC —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).
It is understood that 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.
This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and systems in place to ensure the safety of its employees, passengers and the general public.
According to Air Navigation Regulations set out by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), key personnel at the airline should be Zimbabweans.
“The accountable manager and post holders should be Zimbabwean citizens,” reads the aviation regulations.
Gumbo could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print. In July, he told this paper that government was now considering merging Air Zimbabwe (AirZim) and Zim Airways to an end the growing tension between the two state-owned airlines. The Boeing 777 is now grounded in Malaysia as the company awaits proper paperwork.
While national carrier AirZim continues to be in an abyss due to huge debt and competition from new airlines, Zim Airways on the other hand is trying to complete its registration process with the country’s aviation regulator.
Government bought four Boeing 777-200 planes from Malaysia Airlines through their sole agent Pricewaterhouse Coopers 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 $18,5 million and $16,5 million 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 Zim Airways. Air Zim has since been placed under administration.
