Maintenance on grounded Air Zimbabwe plane completed, awaits CAAZ certification

MAINTENANCE work on one of the grounded Air Zimbabwe's 737-200 series has been completed and the national airline is now waiting for the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe to certify it, acting Air Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr Moses Mapanda has said.

Air Zim grounded three of its Boeing 737 series in April after CAAZ indicated that the planes had passed their design service objective of 20 years and were increasingly becoming expensive to run.

However, the manufacturer (Boeing) gave Air Zim the green light to continue flying its 737-200 planes, saying they were fit to fly.

Mr Mapanda last week told reporters that the national airline was using the MA60 to ply the domestic routes while regional, continental and international routes had not been affected. He said Airzim was working flat out to solve the problems bedevilling the national airline.

He said the national airline was still pursuing retrenchment as a means of reducing costs but lack of money was delaying the process.

Mr Mapanda also dismissed claims that Air Zim was subsidising some clients.

He, however, said Airzim workers, and those on retirement were given free flights, which are limited, as part of their perks.