Malawi and Zimbabwe have announced the signing of a revised Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) that will see greater flexibility and freedom for each country's designated
carriers. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State Summit recently held in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Air Zimbabwe (UM) is understood to have short-listed five possible candidates to for the post of airline chief executive officer (CEO) following a call for submissions earlier this year.
Following negotiations between the two countries, Angola and Zimbabwe have signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) which is a revision of that signed in 2005. Under the agreement, TAAG Linhas Aéreas de Angola (DT), the Angolan national carrier and the only airline currently operating flights between Luanda and Harare, will have provision for 4 weekly frequencies and vice versa.
Nascent carrier, Rainbow Airlines, is set to join Zimbabwe's growing list of privately backed carriers seeking to exploit the country's under-served and overpriced domestic and regional markets, a Government Gazette published last Friday reports.
Various airport services in Zimbabwe could soon be opened up to other players following reports from Harare that the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe is to be unbundled into two separate entities in line with the country's National Transport Policy.
Work on the upgrading of airside infrastructure at Victoria Falls International Airport in Zimbabwe has finally gotten under way following a ground-breaking ceremony held in the resort town on Friday, attended by Zimbabwean government dignitaries. The contractor for the USD150million project, to be financed under a China ExIm Bank loan, has been identified as China Jiangsu International Group (CJIG).
[UPDATE 19 MARCH] After the appointment last month of Ozias Bvute and six other board members charged with reinvigorating the airline, Air Zimbabwe (UM) is now on the hunt for a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the incumbent, Innocent Mavhunga, who was appointed to the role temporarily following the surprise resignation of Peter Chikumba in late 2010.
Despite resuming flights in November last year, ailing Zimbabwean national carrier Air Zimbabwe (UM)'s crippling debt has now soared to USD188million said the Zimbabwean Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development, Munesu Munodawafa, before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport, Communication and Infrastructure.