Air Zimbabwe has grounded its planes again, citing technical issues.
The troubled airline’s two Boeing 737s and one Boeing 767 have been flying domestic routes and servicing President Robert Mugabe’s overseas trips since restarting operations in May.
One of the two Boeing 737’s flying hours lapsed on June 28 and has been put in the hangar for extensive technical checks.
The other pair’s flying hours will lapse in the next few weeks, and local sources say that there is insufficient manpower, funds and expertise available to fix the aircraft quickly.
Although the airline recently took delivery of a new generation Airbus and is in the process of receiving a second one, it cannot fly the aircraft because of registration issues.
In May, IATA suspended Air Zimbabwe from flight booking services as the airline had not paid US$280 000 of the debt it owes the organisation.
