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| Business |
| Air Malawi dismisses fears on London flight |
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by
Taonga Sabola, 10 December 2006
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05:38:19
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Simply fasten your seat belts and get ready for a smooth take off to London. That is the message from the national flag carrier Air Malawi when it dismissed fears of a sudden discontinuance of the Harare-Lilongwe-London flight.
The airline said everthing is under control with its partnership with Air Zimbabwe.
When news filtered in that Air Malawi has paired with Air Zimbabwe under a code-share agreement to fly to London some observers expressed fear that there was a possibility of the new route dying in its infancy owing to threats from creditors of Air Zimbabwe last month to sieze its planes once they landed on European soils due to high levels of unsettled debt.
Mid last month Air Zimbabwe is said to have suspended flights to London—its cash-cow route—for fear of possible plane seizures over the debts.
Air Malawi acting commercial director Rodrick Chattaika confirmed that Air Zimbabwe was in problems with its creditors but said the situation is now under control.
“Yes, that was some three weeks ago when Air Zimbabwe abruptly abandoned its flight to London but now the situation has been resolved and they have resumed flying to London,” he said.
Media reports in Zimbabwe indicate that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) had to cough US$5 million to various Air Zimbabwe international creditors to clear debts that had accumulated since 1999.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono is quoted as saying such ineptitude, as demonstrated by the national airline, was not acceptable, particularly in instances where burdens from the past were allowed to derail current programmes.
"Yes, I can confirm that the Reserve Bank had to swiftly intervene as a matter of national security and avoidance of embarrassment by paying the debts which date back to 1999, on behalf of Air Zimbabwe,” he said.
Malawi is heavily banking on the agreement to fly to London with Air Zimbabwe as the service will fill the gap that existed in Malawi since March 2004 when the British Airways—the only remaining direct flight to the UK and Europe from the country—withdrew its similar service.
Air Malawi and Air Zimbabwe signed the code share agreement in Harare, Zimbabwe on Friday last week for the weekly flight to London using Air Zimbabwe equipment.
Under the agreement an Air Zimbabwe long-haul Boeing 767 aircraft will be flying to London via Lilongwe once a week..
Air Malawi marketing officer Mike Ndaombwa said on Thursday the national acrrier has been allocated 50 seats out of the 190 seats on the plane.
The first flight under the agreement left Lilongwe on Wednesday night carrying 11 passengers from Malawi. Ndaombwa said the demand for the route is impressive.
Air Malawi has pegged its return ticket at about K119,000 (US$850) which is slightly lower compared to the estimated K140,000 (US$1,000) charged by other airlines.
In 1998 the two airlines also had a similar agreement which lasted a few months.
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