[UPDATE 5 JANUARY] On a recent trip to Harare International Airport, we were lucky to spot one of Air Zimbabwe's (UM) two Airbus A320s rumoured to be starting service fairly soon, amongst other juicy tid bits.
The Airbus in question (see below) is likely (MSN 630 | ex M-YWAT)
belonging to Hong Kong-based SouthJet Ltd and leased to UM. The Airbus
is actually the same aircraft supplied to Air Tanzania (TC) under their ill-fated deal with China Sonangol International Holdings which collapsed under murky circumstances.
No registry was seen, likely as the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) has yet to issue one. Note the plane is set to be painted into UM's dreadful new colour scheme.
Air Zimbabwe's Airbus A320 at Harare International Airport
(Pictures Copyright The African Aviation Tribune)
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| Air Zimbabwe's A320 at Harare International |
(On a side note, the BAe146-200 seen in the above pics is (MSN 2046 | ZS-SDX) of South Africa's Allegiance Air. The aircraft has been stored at HRE for quite some time. Does anyone have any input on it?)
Equipment-wise, sources at UM inform us that the MA-60s have been withdrawn from service owing to "customer dissatisfaction" with the type.
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| Air Zimbabwe's 737s sans engines (Click to enlarge) |
Most Boeing 737-200Advs have been grounded with two having been spotted sans power plants (see above). Only one currently plies the 3x weekly Harare - Bulawayo - Victoria Falls route, and can often be seen waiting at the Domestic Terminal.
Regarding the airline's recent IOSA audit, nothing as yet has been mentioned either by UM or by IATA.
[UPDATE 5 JANUARY] Reliable South African forum AvCom has noted that Interair South Africa (D6) leased out their Boeing 767-200ER (MSN 23180 | ZS-IJB) to Air Zimbabwe for ops using call sign ZIM767.
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| Interair B767 ZS-IJB (nomadaviationimages) |