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Airlines Bumping Off Passengers As Zimbabwe-Bound Flights Carry Extra Fuel

Posted on: Monday, 5 December 2005, 09:00 CST

Text of report by Dumisani Muleya, "Harare-bound flights bump passengers for fuel", published by South African newspaper Business Day website on 5 December

Airlines flying into Zimbabwe are now carrying their own extra fuel to avoid being grounded in a country reeling from a long- running fuel crisis.

The move demonstrates the regional effect of Zimbabwe's fuel shortages as well as the contagion of the country's economic problems.

Airlines flying to Harare such as British Airways (operated by Comair in SA [South Africa]) and South African Airways (SAA), and also small carriers such as SA Airlink and kulula.com, are now relying on contingency plans to avoid being grounded in Zimbabwe.

Although it was not possible to get official comment from Comair yesterday, air hostesses told passengers bumped off the flight to Harare yesterday afternoon that the airline was now being forced to place passengers on "stand-by" to accommodate extra fuel.

SAA general communications manager Onkgopotse JJ Tabane confirmed the national carrier was also carrying additional fuel, but insisted it was "not affecting our (SAA's) operations".

"We do carry fuel to provide for situations where there may not be enough fuel on the other side (Zimbabwe), but this is not affecting our operations," he said.

"We usually do this under normal circumstances, so it doesn't affect us."

Zimbabwe's national airline, Air Zimbabwe, grounded all its planes and cancelled flights to Johannesburg, London and Dubai on 22 November due to fuel shortages. Although the airline resumed flights the following day, it is now relying on fuel procured from abroad.

Zimbabwe has been gripped by fuel shortages since 1999 due to lack of foreign currency, which has in turn caused the scarcity of other imports. The shortage of foreign currency has been caused by poor export performance, lack of balance of payments support and drying up of financial aid.

Passengers claimed yesterday they had been told Air Zimbabwe had again cancelled its regional flights, for the second time in two weeks, but the airline said its flights were on.

An Air Zimbabwe spokesman at Johannesburg airport, Harry Senda, said the airline was operating. "As we speak our flight to Harare is half (way) through the trip, and it's about to land," he said. "It's unfortunate that some passengers sometimes rely on hearsay and say malicious things designed to tarnish our image."

Air Zimbabwe, seen widely as emblematic of the country's national failure, has been run down by extended periods of mismanagement and lack of capital. Commandeering of planes by politicians has also contributed to its decline. The airline, which had 18 planes 25 years ago, now has only five.

Source: BBC Monitoring Africa

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