On serious noteAir Zimbabwe remains banned according British Aviation regulatory body from operating commercial air services to, from, and within the United Kingdom. To operate Commercial Air Transport operations to, from and within the UK, airlines require a UK issued third country operator (TCO) approval, issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Whilst the TCO system operates as a separate system to the UK air safety list and is operated solely by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, decisions taken in relation to TCOs will also be considered as part of the UK air safety list process, where identified deficiencies are considered severe enough for air safety list consideration. Mangudya as usual is populist keen to project ZANU as making valuable investments under the dubious Mutapa investments we know One of Air Zimbabwe’s jets was impounded at London Gatwick airport July 2016 over unpaid debts, .The plane held in London was a Boeing 767-200 known as Victoria Falls. It was seized by American General Supplies for debts over $1.2 million. Prior to that a Boeing 737-500, was confiscated by South Africa’s Bid Air Services over a $500,000 debt for ground handling service. Mugabe used the airline it as his private carrier its planes would to fly all over the world, including to Malasia, Hong Kong, Thailand, New York and Italy. Another company ASECNA secured a court ruling in France in which it could impound Air Zimbabwe's airplanes due to an overdue debt, while British Airport Transport and American General Supplies, a major supplier of aircraft spares to Air Zimbabwe had the same
intentions.It’s unclear if all these debts were paid off. Bloomberg reported last Wednesday (28 January) that the Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB), a subsidiary of the Central Bank of Libya, has filed a lawsuit against Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance (a guarantor for the debt) and a Zimbabwean state-owned fuel distribution company, seeking repayment of debts exceeding US$ 100 million. It’s apparent Zimbabwe’s desire to resurrect the national airline is fraught with potential problems. It’s every Zimbabweans wish to board a national Airline it’s a lucrative route which with the right management can sustain itself nowadays Zimbabweans in the Uk board Rwandan & Ethiopian Airlines with trips that take 18-25 Hours with 2 stops it’s reflects Mnangagwa’s populist policies which focus on distributing motor vehicles rather than using it to resuscitate sectors that would create employment and sustain careers.