PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has invited Ethiopian Airlines to partner with the country’s struggling national airline Air Zimbabwe (AirZim).
Air Zim, currently under judicial management, is struggling to find a strategic partner due to a US$300 million legacy debt.
Information minister Monica Mutsvangwa on Tuesday said Mnangagwa, who was recently in Ethiopia for an African Union summit “met with the chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines who expressed willingness to enter into strategic partnerships with Air Zimbabwe and to make Zimbabwe the hub of aircraft maintenance in the region”.
International Trade minister Subisiso Moyo, who was part of Mnangagwa’s entourage in Ethiopia, said the two countries also discussed an agreement for “training of pilots from Air Zimbabwe”.
“In terms of the timeline, the position is that immediately after today’s cabinet, the minister of Transport was getting in touch with the chief executive of the Ethiopian Airlines so that the invitation of the CEO is made instantly,” he said.
A codeshare agreement is also reported to have been among the issues discussed.
However, media reports out of Ethiopia this week say top on the agenda for the Ethiopians was operating cash they are failing to access from Zimbabwe.
“They touched on that and that it is worth about $18 million which is stuck in Zimbabwe,” Moyo is quoted as having told journalists after the meeting.
“The president (Mnangagwa) promised that my counterpart, the minister of finance, is going to take a serious position in terms of reducing that debt,” he said.
Tourism minister, Prisca Mupfumira is reported to have held several meetings with the central bank and Treasury to unlock the money, warning that foreign airlines may pull out if nothing was done to clear the debt.
British Airways-operated ComAir, Kenyan Airways and Emirates have suspended ticket sales from inside Zimbabwe.
The latest development comes after government recently agreed on a cocktail of measures aimed at resuscitating Air Zim through the acquisition of smaller Embraer aircraft from the United States to boost its ageing fleet.
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