Air Zimbabwe resume flights to Europe
Posted under Airline News on April 22, 2010 by webmaster | 139 views
AIR Zimbabwe resumed flights to London yesterday following a temporary freeze on air transportation over much of Europe after ash and dust from a volcanic eruption in Iceland clouded European air space. The national airline’s chief executive Dr Peter Chikumba confirmed resumption of the flights yesterday, bringing relief to more than 800 prospective travellers stranded between Harare and London.
"We have resumed flights to London at 12 midday and we will be having another flight at the same time tomorrow. We will also be operating our Sunday flight and we are hoping to get back to normal flights on Wednesday next week," said Dr Chikumba in an interview.
Air Zimbabwe suspended flights to London since last Thursday shortly after the eruptions began. As a result, the company lost close to US$1 million in potential revenue as the airline along with others around the world grounded their planes. A cloud of ash and dust that followed the eruption of Mt Eyjafjoell in Iceland last week covered Northern Europe’s skies causing blanket closure of air space in affected countries. The grounding of the airline’s flights to London cost the country’s horticulture industry thousands of dollars, as the fresh cut flowers are perishable.
The unfortunate development was a blow to the national airline as the firm desperately needs any financial resources it can lay its hands on. Air Zim lost out on the more than US$960 000 it could have pocketed had the more than 800 prospective travellers, each paying US$1 169 to London, been able to fly aboard the local airline.
In addition, the cancelled flights could have also disturbed travel plans of business people and investors who wished to travel between Harare and Europe. This was also an affront for potential investors heading to Zimbabwe, as the country desperately needs Foreign Direct Investment. Further, the Iceland volcano resulted in the foiled flights that the Zimbabwean delegation that was to travel to the EU for an engagement dialogue had to return home after failing to catch a connecting flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Belgium.
However the temporary freeze of flights over much of the EU airspace did not only have economic repercussions for Zimbabwe and local businesses only. The International Air Transport Association urged European governments to re-consider the blanket closure of the European airspace citing huge costs to most airline companies. "This crisis is costing airlines at least US$200 million a day in lost revenue and the European economy is suffering billions of dollars in lost business," said IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani.
In Southern Africa, South African Airways, which had also been affected by the freeze on flights to most EU destinations, resumed operations yesterday.
source: Herald South Afrifca
