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AirZim resorts to ‘cannibalism’
Just slightly ahead of the rest of the population.
Zimbabwe ’s troubled national airline, Air Zimbabwe , has resorted to cannibalising one of its three Chinese aircraft for spares as the crisis at the airline deepens.

Sources at Air Zimbabwe told ZimOnline yesterday that they will soon resort to stripping parts from one of the three Chinese made Modern Ark (MA60) aircraft to fix one of the planes undergoing major overhaul. The national airline is battling to secure spare parts from the Chinese manufacturer after the Zimbabwean authorities bungled the initial deal after they signed a purchase contract without a spares back-up service.

“We can’t get any spares for the aircraft and so we will ground another aircraft,” said a senior official at Air Zimbabwe who refused to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press, “It wasn’t a comprehensive contract as it didn’t come with spares.”

Air Zimbabwe was one of the best airlines in Africa in the early 1980s. But years of mismanagement and corruption have nearly brought the airline to its knees. Air Zimbabwe has in recent months failed to service some routes or delayed passengers because planes could not fly due to a lack of spares or fuel, blamed on an acute shortage of foreign currency to pay foreign suppliers.

The MA60 plies domestic and regional routes which include Harare , Bulawayo , Victoria Falls, Lubumbashi and Johannesburg .
Posted by: Pappy 2006-10-11
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=168337