Air Zimbabwe in $1.7 million rescue dilemma

NEGOTIATIONS with three of the 12 potential partners that the Government had identified to revive Air Zimbabwe have not yielded the desired results, a Cabinet Minister has said.

The ailing national airline has a huge debt overhang amounting to about $300 million, which the Government pledged to takeover once a strategic partner had been identified.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo told Business Chronicle on the sidelines of the just ended Parliamentary 2017 pre-national budget seminar in Bulawayo that the Government was still searching for a potential partner to get the best deal.

Dr Gumbo said the Government through his ministry has approached airlines in Singapore, Malaysia and Ethiopia. Asked why the process to secure a strategic partner was seemingly taking too long, he said: "Because we are not agreeing on terms. We are negotiating with whoever, you cannot just go and say I want a partner. Somebody will say for example, I want to look at your books, routes and the equipment that you have got and so forth.

He said a number of airlines on the continent and internationally were not performing well.

Among the 12 partners that the Government has identified as potential suitors for Air Zimbabwe are Angolan Airlines, Boeing, Emirates and Airbus.

Meanwhile, Air Zimbabwe needs about $1.7 million to pay for the servicing of its two A320 airbuses that were taken to South Africa for maintenance in 2014.

The two airbuses were taken to South Africa for C-Checks, a comprehensive overhaul done on an aircraft after a certain amount of time or usage.

One of the two airbuses that was paid for is plying the Harare – Dar es Salaam route, which the flag carrier launched in June this year.

Dr Gumbo said at the moment the Government was financially hamstrung to pay for airbus' C-checks.

The struggling airline's current fleet includes Boeing 737-200 (Advanced), Boeing 767-200 ER and Airbus A320-200.