Air Zimbabwe is the national airline of
ZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, headquartered in
HarareHarare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
. From its hub at
Harare International AirportHarare International Airport is an airport in Harare, Zimbabwe. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and is the hub of Air Zimbabwe. The airport's runway, at , is one of the longest in Africa. It compares with OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South...
, the carrier operates a
networkFollowing is a list of destinations Air Zimbabwe flies to, . Terminated destinations are also shown.-References:...
within southern
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
that also includes
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and London-Gatwick. The company is a member of the
International Air Transport AssociationThe International Air Transport Association is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where the International Civil Aviation Organization is also headquartered. The executive offices are at the Geneva Airport in SwitzerlandIATA's mission is to...
, and of the
African Airlines AssociationThe African Airlines Association, also known by its abbreviation AFRAA, is a trade association of airlines which hail from the nations of the African Union...
since 1981. It is 100%–owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
Air Zimbabwe is currently ranked as a two-star airline by
SkytraxSkytrax is a United Kingdom-based consultancy, the public face of Inflight Research Services, which has the largest airline and airport review and ranking site. It conducts research for commercial airlines...
.
History
Air Zimbabwe formally came into being on , when the Government of
RhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
created
Air Rhodesia CorporationAir Rhodesia was the national airline of Rhodesia. Its head office was located on the property of Salisbury Airport in Salisbury.It was originally formed as a subsidiary of Central African Airways in June 1964, but became an independent corporation on September 1, 1967. Air Rhodesia flew internal...
in order to succeed
Air Rhodesia, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Central African AirwaysCentral African Airways was formed in 1946 from the wartime Southern Rhodesian Air Services , which was in turn formed from the pre-war Rhodesia And Nyasaland Airways and Southern Rhodesia Air Force communications squadron...
Corporation (CAAC) that was established in 1964 to operate domestic services within Rhodesia. Air Rhodesia actually inherited CAAC operations following its dissolution at the end of 1967. It became the short-lived
Air Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1978, and finally
Air Zimbabwe in April 1980 when the Republic of Zimbabwe was formed. The carrier began scheduled services on to
London-GatwickGatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
.
In the Government directed Air Zimbabwe and the national freighter airline
AffretairAffretair was a cargo airline based in Zimbabwe.- History :Affretair was formed as a Gabon-based associate company of Air Trans Africa, when a Douglas DC-8 aircraft was acquired in the early 1970s for overseas freight operations...
to merge their operations. In the freighter company was taken over by Air Zimbabwe.
Financial turmoil
In 2003, it was reported that the carrier had been struggling financially and at the mercy of local and international banks. In , it was revealed that the company had been temporarily suspended by International Air Transport Association (IATA) over unpaid debts. A foreign exchange crisis in the country led to the cancellation of the carrier's operations in late 2005, following the lack of hard currency to pay for the fuel.
It was disclosed in 2006 that passenger numbers had fallen from 1 million in 1999 to 23,000 in 2005. Acting chief executive Captain Oscar Madombwe blamed the decline on negative publicity about the political and economic situation in the country, safety concerns among travellers —which he said were unjustified because the airline had an impeccable safety record—, and shortages of hard currency, new equipment and fuel. In late October 2006, prices on Air Zimbabwe flights rose 500% due to inflation increasing to over 1,000%; the
Zimbabwean Central BankThe Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is the central bank of Zimbabwe.-History:The bank traces its history to the Bank of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, founded in March 1956, which in turn was the successor to the Central Currency Board....
stated at that time it could not continue supporting Air Zimbabwe and other money-losing state companies. The airline increased its domestic and international fares between 200% and 500% in an apparent attempt to stay solvent. Prices are reported by the airline to have increased due to the need of foreign currency to pay for fuel, spare parts, and catering.
, the airline is suspended from the international financial and booking system by IATA over unpaid booking fees.
It was announced in early that the government will absorb a million debt in order to make the company more attractive to foreign investors.
Destinations
A Harare–
BeijingBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
service was launched in November 2004, following an increase of the
ChineseChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
–
ZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an economical ties. Likewise, the carrier added
Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
to its network in 2009. A capacity boost was disclosed to occur on the Harare–London-Gatwick route effective . The Harare–
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
route was once served by both
British AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
and Air Zimbabwe; it has become one of the most lucrative routes for Air Zimbabwe since British Airways discontinued the service in 2007.
, the airline serves 9 destinations —six of them international ones— in Africa, Asia and
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
2011 flight disruptions
It was informed in February 2011 that the airline temporarily suspended its flights to
JohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
over likely impoundments of its planes by creditors due to unpaid debts.
Regional and domestic services were suspended for a short period in May 2011, following both the grounding of its Boeing 737-200 fleet by the
Civil Aviation Authority of ZimbabweThe Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe is the civil aviation agency of Zimbabwe. Its head office is on level 3 of Harare International Airport in Harare.The CAAZ was established on 1 January 1999 to replace the Department of Civil Aviation....
(CAAZ) over maintenance concerns, and the impoundment of a
leaseA lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d aircraft from
Zambezi AirlinesZambezi Airlines was a privately owned airline based in Lusaka, Zambia. Its corporate headquarter was located in Lusaka, Zambia. Its main hub of operations was Lusaka International Airport. It ceased its operation on October 31, 2011....
over a
U$SThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
460,000 unpaid debt. Operations resumed in late May 2011 following an agreement between the two airlines, yet the aircraft was repossessed by its owner in late .
In mid-June 2011, flights to London and
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
were temporarily suspended because of a due debt with fuel suppliers. Owing both to the grounding of the 737-200 fleet and to fuel shortages in the country, domestic services were suspended and regional flights were operated on an irregular basis. The airline started regularising medium– and short–haul operations in July 2011, as it got clearance from the CAAZ to operate one of its three grounded 737-200.
The airline halted operations again in late July 2011, this time due to a pilots strike. Operations resumed in mid-September, after a 50-day-long strike.
Overseas and domestic flights were temporarily cancelled again in early , this time owing to an unpaid debt with fuel providers. Overseas routes resumed on .
Frequent-flyer Programme
The Rainbow Club is Air Zimbabwe's frequent-flyer programme. It offers personal and corporate accounts.
Fleet
The initial fleet of five
Boeing 707The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
sourced from Lufthansa replaced the
Boeing 720The Boeing 720 is a four-engine narrow-body short- to medium-range passenger jet airliner. Developed by Boeing in the late 1950s from the Boeing 707, the 720 has a shorter fuselage and less range...
aircraft used by
Air RhodesiaAir Rhodesia was the national airline of Rhodesia. Its head office was located on the property of Salisbury Airport in Salisbury.It was originally formed as a subsidiary of Central African Airways in June 1964, but became an independent corporation on September 1, 1967. Air Rhodesia flew internal...
. These 707s joined the
Vickers ViscountThe Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world...
fleet, which was added to with the purchase of two Viscounts from the UK operator Dan Air. The airline saw the incorporation of the Boeing 737-200 into its fleet in 1985. Three
Boeing 737The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
aircraft were ordered from
BoeingThe Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
in the mid
1980sFile:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
to enhance regional routes.
Long haul operations that were once operated with the 707s were gradually shifted to the newly acquired Boeing 767-200ER equipment; the first of them entered the fleet in late 1989. A British Aerospace
BAe 146The British Aerospace 146 is a medium-sized commercial airliner formerly manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2002. Manufacture of an improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992...
was added to the fleet from the
Zimbabwean Air forceThe Air Force of Zimbabwe is the air force of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. It was known as the Rhodesian Air Force until 1980. The Air Force of Zimbabwe saw service in the Mozambican Civil War in 1985 and the Second Congo War of 1998–2001....
in the eighties. Leased Fokker 50s were used from 1995 but proved unsuitable to the hot and high conditions and were returned to the lessor. The BAe 146 had been subsequently grounded.
In 2005 the airline leased two
MA-60|-See also:-References:* Jackson, Paul. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003. ISBN 0-7106-2537-5.-External links:* * *...
turboprops from China, which were later supplemented by a third donated example in 2006, to operate domestic and short regional routes.
It was announced in 2006 that the Zimbabwean Government had ordered 5
Ilyushin Il-96The Ilyushin Il-96 is a four-engined long-haul widebody airliner designed by Ilyushin in the Soviet Union and manufactured by the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Voronezh, Russia...
s aircraft (2 passenger and 3 freighter versions) from
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, in order to replace the company's ageing
Boeing 767The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
long-haul fleet. After talks with
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n authorities, the order was cancelled. Likewise, in late 2010 the airline announced it had ordered two Airbus A340-500s to serve both the Harare–Beijing and the Harare–London routes; the order was later cancelled after the company failed to raise the money.
In late , Air Zimbabwe was forced to return the Boeing 737-500 it was hiring from Zambezi Airlines to partially compensate the lack of equipment following the grounding of its Boeing 737-200 fleet, as it was unable to afford the costs of its leasing. The aircraft was mainly used to operate the Harare–Johannesburg route; it was disclosed the company had to fly the route using one of its Boeing 767.
Despite versions for the acquisition of new aircraft were officially declined in July 2011 owing to a precarious cash position, it was disclosed that the airline bought an Airbus A340-500 and an
Airbus A320The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...
, both new, in August 2011.
, the airline's fleet consists of the following equipment:
Air Zimbabwe Fleet
| Aircraft |
In Fleet |
Orders |
Passengers |
Notes |
| C |
Y |
Total |
| Boeing 737-200 Advanced |
3 |
— |
12 |
93 |
105 |
|
| Boeing 767-200ER |
2 |
— |
30 |
167 |
197 |
Z-WPF in new liveryAircraft livery is a paint scheme applied to an aircraft, generally to fuselage, wings, empennage , or jet engines. Most airlines have a standard paint scheme for their aircraft fleet, usually prominently displaying the airline logo or name. From time to time special liveries are introduced, for...
|
Xian MA60|-See also:-References:* Jackson, Paul. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group, 2003. ISBN 0-7106-2537-5.-External links:* * *...
|
2 |
— |
— |
52 |
52 |
One aircraft stored |
| Total |
7 |
— |
Retired
Air Zimbabwe also operated the following equipment all through its history:
- BAe 146-100
- BAe 146-200
- Boeing 707-320B
- Boeing 737-500
- Fokker 50
- Viscount 700
- Viscount 800
Bad Publicity
In June 1999 the
Chicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
published a story in which the reporter Gaby Plattner claimed she had flown from
KaribaKariba is a town in Mashonaland West province, Zimbabwe, located close to the Kariba Dam at the northwestern end of Lake Kariba, near the Zambian border. According to the 1992 Population Census, the town had a population of 20,736....
to
HwangeHwange is a town in western Zimbabwe, in the province of Matabeleland North. It is named after the chieftain of Zwange, who is now called Chief Hwange. The town was known as Wankie until 1982. According to the 1992 Population Census, the town had a population of 42,581...
on an Air Zimbabwe service, and that the flight departed without a co-pilot, who did not arrive on time for unexplained reasons. It was claimed that during the flight the pilot went to the bathroom, held the cockpit door open with a rubber band, that the aircraft encountered turbulence on its
flightpathFlightpath is a digital-marketing agency located in New York City's Flatiron District. Jon Fox is the company’s founder and current CEO.-History:...
and the rubber band snapped loose, and that the door eventually got closed and locked the pilot out of the cockpit. The article also claimed that the pilot had to use an axe to chop down the door. The newspaper later stated that this story was untrue.
Some time later the carrier sued the
CNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
after it ran a story claiming it was the most dangerous airline in the world.
Accidents and incidents
According to
Aviation Safety Network-External links:**...
, the company did not have accidents involving fatalities since Air Rhodesia was renamed Air Zimbabwe in 1980. The only hull-loss accident the airline went through is listed below.
- July 1984: A Vickers 756D Viscount
The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world...
, registrationAn aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
Z-YNI, was damaged beyond repair in an incident on the grounds of Harare International AirportHarare International Airport is an airport in Harare, Zimbabwe. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and is the hub of Air Zimbabwe. The airport's runway, at , is one of the longest in Africa. It compares with OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South...
. It was withdrawn from service and transferred to the airport fire department for use as a training aid.
See also
External links