which has seen the national airline accruing arrears as it is failing to break even, Parliamentarians heard on Wednesday.
All things being equal, the national airline must have paid the Chinese firm about $20 mln for the two aircraft by end of April this year. It is understood that one of the planes is grounded in South Africa after operating for about a month before developing a fault yet it is still accruing arrears.
The deal was sealed during the tenure of former Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Nicholas Goche and was negotiated by jailed Hong Kong business tycoon, Sam Pa. Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo told the National Assembly yesterday that the two aircraft were second-hand when they were leased to Airzim. He was responding to questions from MDC-T MP for Bulawayo Nicole Jane Watson who sought to know whether Airzim bought the two aircraft. “The aircraft were not purchased but are being leased from China Sonangol since 2012,” said Gumbo.
“These were part of efforts by Government to support the turnaround process of Air Zimbabwe. The aircraft are on a dry lease from China Sonangol at $200 000 per month per plane.” But legislators asked Gumbo whether the national airliner was able to pay the lease fees per month. One of the airbuses arrived in January 2012 while the second one arrived later that year. Gumbo said Cabinet on Tuesday gave his ministry the go-ahead to engage partner for Air Zimbabwe as part of its turnaround strategy.
Daily News