Fly Africa Zimbabwe is set to resume flights after its new shareholders injected $6,6 million to resuscitate operations after being grounded for 18 months.
The airline surrendered its operating license after a protracted fight with its former shareholder
The airline’s executive chairperson, Cassidy Mugwagwa on Friday said the capital injection went towards retiring the debt which was left by the previous shareholder.
“We have rescued FlyAfrica from collapse. We have injected $6,6 million most of that has gone to retire debt, regulator and government,” he said.
The return of FlyAfrica will result in stiff competition with South African Airways, FastJet, Ethiopian Airways, Rwanda Air and Kenyan Airways, among others.
Mugwagwa said they leased two planes which were expected in the country soon after having satisfied the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe requirements.
“Within the next fortnight we will start within the Zimbabwean triangle that is Harare to Victoria Falls and Bulawayo. FlyAfrica as a business did not fail, the shareholders did. Right now there are few shareholders. There is one if not two,” he said.
After shareholder squabbles in 2015 Chakanyuka Karase, who held the licence to operate the airline in Zimbabwe, approached the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development and surrendered the licence.
Mugwagwa said after a month of plying the local route the airline would introduce the Harare to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Lusaka flights.
