News / National
Air Zimbabwe suspends domestic flights again
05 Jul 2012 at 06:24hrs | Views
Ailing Air Zimbabwe has suspended domestic flights barely two months after it resumed flights as it emerged that President Robert Mugabe only utilised the airline's aircraft to connect his Singapore flight in Johannesburg.
The struggling airline suspended its domestic flights to Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls on Monday after grounding one of its Boeing 737 aircraft, which had been servicing the routes to let it undergo a corrosion check commonly known as C-check.
A C-Check is a maintenance check where most components of the aircraft are checked and some replaced.
Air Zimbabwe resumed flight services in early May after grounding its planes for almost four months since January when it suspended domestic, regional and international flights chocked by debts, industrial action by key personnel including pilots and engineers and fear that some of its planes could be seized to recover debts.
Mugabe flew to Singapore on Monday for what state media called a "routine medical check-up" and is expected to return back in the country at the weekend where, an Air Zimbabwe's long haul plane will ferry him to Harare from Johannesburg after his Singapore flight.
The suspension of flights is the latest setback for the airline which is now famous for poor service and bungling and had been battling to regain passenger confidence.
The grounding of Air Zimbabwe's planes is just but one of the woes affecting the national flag carrier. Once one of the best airlines in Africa, Air Zimbabwe has been run down due to successive years of mismanagement and inadequate funding.
The struggling airline suspended its domestic flights to Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls on Monday after grounding one of its Boeing 737 aircraft, which had been servicing the routes to let it undergo a corrosion check commonly known as C-check.
A C-Check is a maintenance check where most components of the aircraft are checked and some replaced.
Air Zimbabwe resumed flight services in early May after grounding its planes for almost four months since January when it suspended domestic, regional and international flights chocked by debts, industrial action by key personnel including pilots and engineers and fear that some of its planes could be seized to recover debts.
Mugabe flew to Singapore on Monday for what state media called a "routine medical check-up" and is expected to return back in the country at the weekend where, an Air Zimbabwe's long haul plane will ferry him to Harare from Johannesburg after his Singapore flight.
The suspension of flights is the latest setback for the airline which is now famous for poor service and bungling and had been battling to regain passenger confidence.
The grounding of Air Zimbabwe's planes is just but one of the woes affecting the national flag carrier. Once one of the best airlines in Africa, Air Zimbabwe has been run down due to successive years of mismanagement and inadequate funding.
Source - radiovop
