Published by the government of Zimbabwe
23 November 2005
Harare — GOVERNMENT yesterday intervened in the Air Zimbabwe crisis as the national airline resumed some domestic, regional and international flights.
This came as acting chief executive Captain Oscar Madombwe and management deliberated on new strategies to rescue the ailing airline.
Air Zimbabwe grounded its entire fleet on Monday and cancelled some of its domestic, regional and international flights until further notice owing to the shortage of Jet A1 fuel.
The national airline board moved swiftly and suspended chief executive officer Dr Tendai Mahachi and another senior official with immediate effect pending investigations into the flight disruptions.
The Minister of Transport and Communications, Cde Chris Mushohwe said Government, would want an explanation as to why Air Zimbabwe was buying fuel from private companies such as BP Air and Total instead of doing so directly from the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim).
Speaking to Newsnet last night, Cde Mushohwe said Government, through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, had been assisting the airline secure foreign currency to buy fuel.
Cde Mushohwe summoned Air Zimbabwe, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), BP Air, Total and Noczim officials for a meeting over the fuel issue.
He said a committee comprising Secretary of Energy Mr Justin Mupamhanga, Noczim and Air Zimbabwe officials had been established to assist Secretary for Transport and Communications Mr George Mlilo in ensuring the situation is managed well so as to avoid cancellation of flights.
Dr Mahachi and divisional director for finance and company secretary Mrs Tendai Mujuru were suspended on Monday after the national airline's fuel reserves ran dry.
The cancellation of flights left hundreds of passengers stranded.
However, business was slowly returning to normal yesterday when The Herald visited Harare International Airport.
An official at the booking office said most of the flights had resumed smoothly.
"Yes, our flights resumed today (yesterday) and we hope that this will continue to improve," the official, who declined to be named, said.
Air Zimbabwe spokesperson Mr David Mwenga also confirmed that flights had resumed.
"Some of our flights have resumed, but I will be in a better position to talk to you after consulting my bosses who are locked up in a meeting," he said.
Mr Mwenga said the Air Zimbabwe board was in a meeting deliberating on the way forward and on ways to address the critical operational issues affecting service delivery of the national airline.
Acting board chairman Mr Jonathan Kadzura also confirmed that the airline had resumed most of its flights and everything was under control.
Capt Madombwe has over the years been called to assume the position of Air Zimbabwe chief executive in an acting capacity each time there is a crisis at the national airline.
He joined the airline in 1981 and rose to the position of senior manager, flight operations, before leaving in 2000.
Capt Madombwe is no rookie to the airline industry being an experienced administrator, aircraft engineer and qualified pilot
He was previously CAAZ director of flight safety standards before turning to private consultancy with Management Capacity Building International as the managing director.
Capt Madombwe also worked at PG Industries as operations executive before he was appointed director of National Handling Services (NHS) at the national airline in January 2004.
He holds a Bachelor of Administration degree from the University of South Africa and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Zimbabwe.
In September 2004 while he was the national airline's acting chief executive officer, Capt Madombwe initiated the leasing of Air Zimbabwe planes to ensure high levels of usage and cut on parking fees.
The move was a tactical strategy implemented by management to get optimum aircraft use and also to avoid incurring extra parking costs.
Aircraft such as the Boeing 767 have to be in the air for at least 11 to 12 hours a day for optimum functionality.
Following the airline's cancellation of some of its routes, including the Harare-Kariba, Harare-Frankfurt, Harare-Durban-Cape Town and Larnaca (Cyprus) flights, the planes were flying less than the recommended hours.
Capt Madombwe was also instrumental in the launch of the weekly flight to China and Singapore, which has boosted the country's tourism sector.
The introduction of the flight is in line with the Government's Look East Policy, which has seen an increased number of tourist arrivals from the Far East.
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