Zimbabwe’s money losing state airline hiked its fares by up to fivefold in record increases that put air travel out of the reach of all but the wealthiest Zimbabweans.
New fares for local, regional and long-haul flights became effective on Friday after the airline again failed to meet costs for fuel, spare parts and foreign handling charges, Air Zimbabwe said in a statement on Monday.
A regular round trip to London, payable in local currency, rose to a Z$1 865 000, or $7 460 at the official exchange rate. On the illegal black market currency exchange, the trip would cost the equivalent $1 245, still higher than other airlines that demand fares paid directly in scarce hard currency.
The central bank last week announced it was no longer willing to bail out the airline and other loss-making state enterprises in a chaotic economy facing record inflation and acute shortages of hard currency, gasoline, food and essential imports.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980, blamed mostly on disruptions in agricultural production after an often violent program to seize thousands of white-owned commercial farms began in 2000.
Official inflation last month exceeded 1 000%, the highest rate in the world. Since that figure was announced, however, prices of general goods have soared almost daily.
Independent finance houses put real inflation at closer to 4 000% by factoring in huge increases in the price of telephone calls, meat, fruit and vegetables and soft drinks, beer and tobacco.
In most outlets, regular beer last week broke the Z$1 000 barrier for a small bottle, up 50% in the past month.
The official Central Statistical Office has acknowledged its inflation figure could be flawed, in part because it doesn’t have the money, staff and equipment for its own research. It also cited black marketeering on goods whose prices are fixed by the government but are mainly ignored.
Black market gasoline sells for five times the official price. — Sapa-AP