Zimbabwe’s beleaguered national airline has grounded its entire fleet of planes due to lack of fuel, a state-controlled newspaper reported on Tuesday.
All domestic and international flights have been cancelled, the Herald reported.
Angry passengers bound for destinations including Johannesburg and Singapore found themselves stranded on Monday at Harare’s main airport following the flight cancellations, the paper said.
”The Harare International Airport yesterday [Monday] morning was host to irate passengers milling around while others crowded Air Zimbabwe counters trying to get help from booking officers,” it said.
Two senior officials in the state-run airline have also been suspended by the board over the disruptions that have hit the airline in recent weeks due to shortages of Jet A1 fuel, the report said.
The Vice-President of the board, Jonathan Kadzura, announced the suspension of Air Zimbabwe’s chief executive, Tendai Mahachi, and finance secretary Tendai Mujuru ”pending investigations into the serious disruptions of the national airliner’s operations and services to customers”, the paper said.
”The board would like to sincerely apologise to all its valued customers for the inconveniences and disruptions caused by the cancellation of flights and would like to assure the public of its full commitment to address the critical operational issues affecting service delivery of the national airline,” Kadzura said in a statement.
Zimbabwe has been dogged by erratic fuel supplies for the past six years but the shortages became acute in March. The country does not have the hard currency needed to pay for fuel and other imports, such as medicines and electrical power. – Sapa-DPA