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Thursday 6 February 2014

Air Zimbabwe A320's grounded in South Africa

 
 
Air Zimbabwe's two A320 Airbuses have been grounded at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the last four months amid disclosures that the planes were unserviceable. Grounding of the Airbuses adds to the woes of the national carrier that now has only two planes in the air servicing the Harare-Johannesburg route and the domestic market. The two are a Boeing 737 and the leased Embraer jet. The third functional plane is a Boeing 767 which is usually used when the 737 is down or when President Robert Mugabe is travelling outside the country. Three MA60's acquired from China a couple of years ago have also remained in the hangars as their potential to get back to the skies has been ruled out.

An insider reported that: "The Airbuses have been at OR Tambo for the last four months and are incurring storage charges which are rising by the day as they remain unfixed. They were taken to South Africa for C-Checks." C-Check refers to the comprehensive overhaul of aircraft after a certain amount of time or usage. The source added: "When one of the Airbuses was flying, the airline used to cannibalise the parked one for parts. One of the planes needs its landing gear replaced." Contacted for comment last night, Airzim spokesperson Shingai Taruvinga confirmed the Airbuses were grounded in SA, but could not give more details.

A senior official at the airline also confirmed that the Airbuses had been grounded, but could not give further details. "It's true that they (Airbuses) are in South Africa since we don't have the capacity to service them here. One of the planes has a landing gear problem and the lessor is looking at replacing it soonest," the official said. The senior official also confirmed that the airline was conducting C-Checks on two Boeings locally and these will be completed soon. "We need about $1,5 million to complete the C-Checks on the Boeing 767 and Boeing 737 at our workshops and I suppose that should be done within the next three weeks," the official added.

Source: Bulawayo24

3 comments:

  1. .how is air zim still flying a dangerous old 737 200 and still meet the noise regulations and the carbon emmission.i live in SA close to OR Tambo.when that aircraft passes the noise it emmits it makes all buildings to vibrate like an earthquake measured 8 on the ratescale,even if when any Airbus A380 passes it dnt emmit such noise.i always pray for souls onboard of that plane.please air zim do something about your planes otherwise you are silent killers.

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    1. Hi there, yes like you say its really surprising those old 737's are allowed to fly. They are definitely past their legal flying hours and must have been retired a long time ago. At the moment the airline is battling a financial crisis and really needs to be privatised asap otherwise those 737s will remain in the skies sadly

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  2. I personally don't fly this "airline!" Very unprofessional staff, rough-rider landing "pilots", lies after lies, ballooning debt, they do their best to build castles in the air with their BS yet they are drowning and dieing. I don't fly these feaces, I fly the best of the best, first class KLM, BRITISH AIRWAYS, AMERICAN AIRLINES, AIR CANADA, LUFTHANSA, AIR FRANCE , SWISS AIR AND FINLAND AIR.Feaces need to be flushed away.

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