01/09/09, 01:38:10 UTC

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Zambian airline latest carrier to pull out of Zimbabwe

monstersandcritics.com

Zambia's national airline has become the latest carrier to withdraw services to and from Zimbabwe, the company said Monday.

Zambian Airways Chief Executive Officer Mutembo Nchito said in a statement that it would cease flights to and from Harare on December 1, citing 'continuing operational challenges on the route caused by high fuel costs and extreme currency fluctuations in Zimbabwe.'

Zimbabwe's economy is in dramatic decline, with a currency that has dived from 2,800 Zimbabwe dollars to the US dollar at the beginning of the year, to 1,500,000 Zimbabwe dollars to the greenback now.

Zimbabwean law also demands that foreign visitors exchange hard currency at the scarcely-used official rate of 33,600 Zimbabwe dollars to the US dollar, which pushes the cost of a litre of fuel to the equivalent of 66 US dollars.

Last month British Airways, the last foreign long-haul airline flying into Zimbabwe, cancelled its services after 62 years of flying to and from the central African country, citing 'unsustainable losses' on the route.

At the same time Ethiopian Airlines decided also to withdraw, but Zimbabwean government officials said later the airline's management had changed its mind after pleas from Zimbabwean authorities.

Only a handful of African airlines still service Harare, flying short-haul routes within the southern African region.

Shortly after independence in 1980, 18 foreign long haul airlines operated out of Harare, including four direct links to Europe, but economic and political crises since 2000 when President Robert Mugabe launched a violent, continuous offensive against his critics and began effecting a swathe of reckless economic policy decisions, have severely eroded the country's draw for tourists.

Air Zimbabwe, the state-controlled airline, is the only airline still flying direct long-haul flights out of Harare.

 Printable Version  | published Nov 26, 2007