Britain bans troubled Air Zimbabwe

Britain's government site has said, Air Zimbabwe has been refused permission to operate flights to the EU because the airline has been unable to demonstrate that it complies with international air safety standards."

The site further says, "British government employees travelling to and within Zimbabwe has been advised to use careers that aren't subject to the EU operating ban."

This is despite comments by Minister of Transport J. Gumbo that only two flights had been affected.

"It should be noted that the ban is on two specific aircraft that fly long haul to Europe," he said.

"The airline has not been banned from-flying to Europe. If we corrected that ban on the two planes will be lifted. The previous management was found wanting on the way they maintained those two. It's politics at play but its set conditions on those aircrafts which we have to correct. It is good for Air Zimbabwe, there are some checks and balances which are for our benefit."


Zimeye

Air Zimbabwe: Airline banned from flying into European Union due to safety standards

Safety concerns have seen Zimbabwe's national career banned from flying to the European Union.

Yesterday, (16, May), the European Commission issued its updated Safety List and Air Zimbabwe was listed as incapable of operation within the European Union due to its lower safety standards.

The EU Commission's statement reads,

"All airlines certified in Benin and Mozambique are cleared from the list, following further improvements to aviation safety situation in these countries. On the other hand, the airlines, Med-View (Nigeria), Mestique Airway (St-Vincent and the Grenadines), Aviation Company Urga (Ukraine) & Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) were added to the list due to the list due to unaddressed safety defiances that were detected by the European Aviation Safety Agency during the assessment for a third country operator authorisation."

Commissioner for Transport Violera Bulc said;

"This also a signal to the 16 countries that remain on the list. It shows that work and cooperation pays off. The commission and the European Aviation Agency are ready to assist them and raise the safety standards worldwide."

Zimbabwe government waives duty on airplane spares

Zimbabwe:

The Zimbabwean government has waived duty on all aircraft spare parts imports in a bid to help ease pressure on the troubled national airline Air Zimbabwe. Air Zimbabwe owes lenders over $330 million and is loosing market share to emerging private airlines.

In a government gazette published last week Friday it was said that 'Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has in terms of section 235 of the Customs & Excise Act rescinded duty on engine spares for Air Zim.'

'Subject to this section & to such conditions as the Commissioner General may, fix a rebate of duty, shall with effect from the 1st of January to 31 December 2017, be granted on engine spares and components for Air Zimbabwe,' the gazette reads.

There are numerous engine spares' tariff heading which have been approved by Chinamasa to benefit from the rebate in a bid to to avert departure and arrival delays.

Source: Daily News

Air Zimbabwe unfit to service international airlines

Air Zimbabwe last week appealed to the European aviation safety agency after its application for accreditation to service international airlines flying into Zimbabwe got denied as established.

The application had been to the Aviation Safety Authority (Easa) in a bid to broaden revenue sources through establishing a technical hub for the region.

The purported reason for the rejection was the airlines' inability to even service its own aircraft as revealed in an (Easa) audit.
With that, the airline can't qualify to maintain equipment from other airlines,

"During Edmund Makoni's tenure as acting CEO, the airline resolved to widen its revenue by setting up a maintenance hub for the region and beyond. They were basically imitating the likes of South African Airways whose technical department is profitable" a source said.

"After its application was turned down, the CE; quality assurance manager Onias Moyo and the director in charge of technical services Joseph Makonese flew to Brussels to make an appeal on this decision."

And the application had also been made just a after a month after all five of AirZim aircraft more grounded due to technical problems, forcing the airline to live a South African plane to cover scheduled flights.

Also, Air Zimbabwe is in a debt of US$330 million that has incapacitated the airlines' full performance. The company has since the start of the Zimbabwean cash-crisis struggled to procure its own crucial spare parts for its five planes.

Source: B24N

Zimbabwe: Top Airline Issued Handwritten Tickets

Air Zimbabwe last week resorted to handwritten boarding passes revealing the extent of rot the parastatal is on the verge. The whole of last of week was awash with bad jokes about the development.

The situation came against the standard electronic ticketing system used in the aviation industry approved by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a body that ensures airline safety, security and efficiency.

One passenger detailed that the issued documents do not have any security features such as a barcode, and appeared "very fake."

And Air Zimbabwe sales and marketing manager Christopher Kuenda confirmed that all flight details, including names and seat numbers, were written in ink for some passengers travelling to Johannesburg to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

"What is happening is that we're combining flights, Joburg - Bulawayo and Joburg - Victoria Falls. It becomes difficult to combine loads because of capacity.

"The printing pass system is programmed for one flight, so we print for the flight with more passengers. The rest is handwritten.

"It is not like the system is down or the airline is facing any problems and it's not like this is happening with all our flights, it's just one flight," he said to the Daily News.

Source: Daily News Zimbabwe