Air Zimbabwe Suspends Flights To U.K. & South Africa

Air Zimbabwe has cancelled all of its flights to London’s Gatwick airport following one of its planed being impounded at Gatwick over unpaid bills. The bosses of Air Zimbabwe released a statement saying that all flights to London and Johannesburg have been cancelled amidst a financial crisis within the company. The problems became apparent a few weeks prior to Christmas when one of its 767′s was impounded at Gatwick Airport because of an unpaid debt to a U.S. parts supplier. The debt was paid off on Christmas Day but is did mean that the aircraft was grounded for over two weeks in London.

Thinking of heading out on a Botswana safari in 2012? Make sure you don’t book it with Air Zimbabwe as it may coincide with a holiday President Robert Mugabe may have booked up which is, according to the local media the reason why the fine was paid, so he could travel. The Minister of Transport is said to have made the decision to cancel both the London and Johannesburg route after receiving a tongue lashing from Mr Mugabe himself.

Perhaps you’re thinking of taking a flight with Air Zimbabwe on a Tanzania safari? Well although the flights are cheap they are certainly not reliable as the passengers who turned up at Gatwick Airport flying back to Harare found out at the beginning of December. Flights grounded between London – Harare & Johannesburg – Harare are set to last until 15th January. Years of financial mismanagement and government interference has left the company swamped under an insurmountable amount of debt.

At the moment the only place in Africa you would be able to head out on an African safari with Air Zimbabwe would be to Zambia. With a fleet of just 7 planes, 4 of which head out to other parts of the world, there are very few options as far as holidays in Africa are concerned. The fundamental issue always seems to come back to the president, Robert Mugabe as he doesn’t own his own private jet and therefore every time he wants to fly abroad he commandeers one of the fleet, disrupting usual service and causing customers to miss their flights. Passenger confidence is all but destroyed and it will take a monumental effort and marketing plan to make Air Zimbabwe one of the leading national carriers on the African continent, for which it once was.