Air Zimbabwe (UM, Harare International) will shortly take re-delivery of two A320-200s that have been at Johannesburg O.R. Tambo undergoing critical maintenance with SAA Technical, the MRO division of South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), for the last six months.
The aircraft, Z-WPM (cn 630) and Z-WPN (cn 1973), are mired in controversy amid reports they were supplied to the Zimbabwean national carrier, historically a loyal Boeing (BOE, Washington National) operator, without board consent. South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper has claimed that Zimbabwe's former transport minister, Nicholas Goche, brokered a covert deal for the A320-200s with Chinese businessman, Sam Pa, after Mr Pa reportedly donated USD100million to the country's much-feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
Despite the controversy, Air Zimbabwe plans to use the A320s in opening up routes it pulled out of almost ten years ago such as Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta, Lilongwe, and Kinshasa N'Djili.
“This will be adding two Airbus A320s to the fleet. They can accommodate the routes that we have not been able to service as a result of the limitations on our fleet," Zimbabwe's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Obert Mpofu, told ZBC News. “The old fleet will be brought in. We have been doing our best to look for funding to get all those aircraft flying thereby giving Air Zimbabwe an edge in terms of competition.”
Cash-strapped Air Zimbabwe requires USD368million to recapitalize its operations and acquire new jets acting Chief Executive Officer, Edmund Makona, told a Zimbabwean parliamentary inquest last month.
The carrier currently operates two B737-200Advs, two B767-200(ER)s, and one MA-60, on flights spanning Harare International, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo. Plans to serve London Gatwick are set to resume in due course, Goche added.
