Air Zimbabwe to get new aircraft in 2022

The money will be spent on the acquisition of new aircraft, as well as route expansion, digitalisation, and more staff. This was announced by finance and economic development Minister Mthuli Ncube in a national budget speech.

Ncube  said: “Air Zimbabwe is now a commercially viable company following the conclusion of the scheme of reconstruction in June 2021. This was achieved after approval by Cabinet of the national airline’s debt assumption and the settlement of its domestic debt and part of its foreign debt,” Ncube said. As reported previously, Harare had approved the airline's reconstruction scheme in May 2021. The carrier's liabilities had amounted to USD30 million in foreign debt USD873,000 in local exposure. Domestic creditors were actually owed USD349 million, but their debts were converted to new Zimbabwe dollars at the official 1:1 rate.”

He added: “Going forward, the thrust is implementation and execution of the airline’s plan to ensure that it acquires requisite equipment, routes network expansion, invests in appropriate information communication technology (ICT) systems, and strengthens its competitiveness through the strategic deployment of a lean and professional workforce.

“In support of the turnaround plan, the 2022 National Budget is allocating ZWD1.5 billion for recapitalisation of the national airline towards operational costs and the acquisition of aircraft.”