FLYAFRICA Zimbabwe plans
to relaunch flights under
a slightly different name –
flyafricazim – with the backing
of new investors.
The airline terminated its
franchise agreement with the
Flyafrica group after the parent
company was placed into
liquidation earlier this year (see
TNW March 9).
The ‘new’ airline owns
the Flyafrica brand name
in Zimbabwe and can
therefore continue to operate
under this name, says the
company’s principle investor
and chairperson, Cassidy
Mugwagwa. Additional
investors have been signed
on to the tune of US$25m
(R362m) to develop a panAfrican
operation, says Cassidy.
The airline plans to
begin operations on the
Johannesburg-Harare route
from mid-May.
Flyafricazim also plans to
establish operations between
Johannesburg and Bulawayo as
well as domestic routes within
Zimbabwe.
After the termination of its
franchise agreement with
Flyafrica Ltd, Cassidy says
flyafricazim needed to source
new aircraft, reservation
support, as well as web
support and marketing.
The company has done
this through its purchase of
Airconnect, which Cassidy
explains handled many of
these functions for Flyafrica in
the past.
“Contracts have also been
entered into with other service
providers. Aircraft have been
sourced from Star Air Cargo
and key staff, who originally
worked for Flyafrica Ltd, have
also been retained – so we are
good to go.”
Not unlike the original
flyafrica.com LCC model,
the new airline’s strategy is
to operate in a number of
different countries “in order to
spread its common expenses”,
says Cassidy.
“Each country must be
profitable, operate with a
local partner and be able to
sustain itself with minimal
operating financial support
from head office. In other
words, one country must not
be able to pull another down,”
she says.
The airline aims to launch
subsidiary airlines in four
countries over the next two
years.
