Despite resuming flights in November last year, ailing Zimbabwean national carrier Air Zimbabwe (UM)'s crippling debt has now soared to USD188million said the Zimbabwean Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development, Munesu Munodawafa, before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport, Communication and Infrastructure. |
| © Air Zimbabwe |
The enormous debt overhang is likely to put a damper on the airline's ambitious plans of starting services to Germany, Kenya, Mauritius, Ghana and Nigeria in March as according to Mundowafa, at least USD158 million is required by Air Zimbabwe to pay out its international creditors and resume international flights.
In late 2011, an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767-200ER was seized by American General Supplies upon landing at London’s Gatwick International Airport after securing a court injunction in the US that gave them the power to impound the aircraft over USD1.2 million in debts.
Part of UM's debt to South African creditors was paid off via a USD8.5
million cash injection from the Zimbabwean fiscus last year thereby
enabling the airline to resume flights to Johannesburg.
Regarding the new Airbus A320s, Mundowafa said:
“It costs US$410,000 a month to lease the two planes (but they) are not yet flying as we have not fully registered them with the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe,” he said.
He added that the changeover to Airbus from Boeing would cost the airline about US$1 million which covers training pilots and engineers in Spain as well as re-equipping the airline’s hangers.
Source [NewZimbabwe]
Mundowafa added that the airline's bloated debt and staff numbers have put off numerous would-be investors with Malaysia Airlines (MH), RAK Airways (the national airline of Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven states in the United Arab Emirates), and Hainan Airlines of China (HU) having been courted in the past but to no avail, despite the offer of a 74% tranche in the carrier.
A new Air Zimbabwe board is to be announced on 22 February.
