Air Zimbabwe

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    Fred Flintstone Airlines? No, it’s Air Zimbabwe


    Like the nineteen year old Yemenia Airlines* Airbus A310-324 that was written up as having passengers with standing room only, unattached seats and an assortment of safety problems that were so bad that the plane was disallowed from flying over European airspace, Air Zimbabwe’s fleet demonstrates how not to run an airline.

    There are apparently 5 planes and 50 pilots; far too many engineers (300? For a fleet of 5?), and is an accounting nightmare, being $108 million in debt and accruing more as it is operating in the red, and it has reportedly fallen behind on quarterly insurance payments.

    A B767 may be auctioned if Air Zimbabwe fails to pay a monthly installment of US$500 000 to Lufthansa Technics. Repair of the B767-200 engine which requires US$2,5 million for repairs, hinged on the condition of making US$500 000 monthly payments from May 2011 to redeem the debt.

    Skytrax, which rates airlines on a scale of 5-1 (5 being good) rates Air Zimbabe as a 2. Passenger reviews include random cancellations, ancient planes, unexpected delays, missed connections, owed reimbursements, misdirected charter flights, and strange excuses from gate personnel.

    Yemenia Airlines* is also a 2 star airline.


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    Air Zimbabwe Emergency Landing at Harare


    Pictured: An Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737
    Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
    Contact photographer Chaity

    What: Air Zimbabwe Boeing 737 en route from Victoria Falls
    Where: Harare Airport, Zimbabwe
    When: December 6, 2010
    Who: not released
    Why: Passengers coming back from Victoria falls got a surprise today as, en route, the plane’s fire alarms went off.

    The pilots made a safe emergency landing at Harare. The cause of the alarm is being investigated, and there’s no indication of whether passengers were provided transportation, housing or if they had to wait until the plane was examined/repaired.