Zim airline takes off, again

FLYAFRICA Zimbabwe plans
to relaunch flights between
Johannesburg and Harare and
Johannesburg and Bulawayo by
the end of October, under new
ownership and management.
The airline, which terminated
its franchise agreement with
the Flyafrica group after the
parent company was placed
into liquidation earlier this
year, had initially said it would
begin operations on the
Johannesburg-Harare route
from mid-May (TNW, May 4).
However, chairperson,
Cassidy Mugwagwa, says
the May launch date had to
be postponed because of
regulatory issues that were
delayed by the liquidation of
the old company.
While there was some
dispute over the brand name,
says Cassidy, this has been
retained by the new airline.
The airline now operates
independently. New leases
for aircraft have also been
negotiated. All airline
operations that were previously
based in Johannesburg will
now be based in Harare, where
FlyAfrica Zimbabwe will operate
as a Zimbabwean-owned and
registered airline.
Blessing Munyenyiwa has
been appointed ceo and
Mekias Munyaradzi, coo.
Johan Bosman will take on the
role of gm South Africa.
Confident that commercial
operations will begin by the
end of October, Cassidy says
the airline will also aim to have
flight dates in place by this
time or early November.
Besides Johannesburg, the
airline will operate a service
between Harare and Bulawayo
and is also looking to further
expand its network. “We will
push to have a Harare-London
route in place by June 2017,”
says Cassidy.