Zimbabwe flyafrica.com

Zimbabwe flyafrica.com was a low cost carrier, the first from the flyafrica.com group to start operations.[1] Flights commenced in August 2014 (2014-08) between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg, and subsequently on additional routes. However operations have been suspended since October 2015, on removal of the airline's operating licence, reportedly following shareholder disputes and failure to meet statutory requirements.[2][3]

Zimbabwe flyafrica.com
IATA ICAO Callsign
Z7 FZW FRESH EXPRESS
Commenced operationsAugust 2014 (2014-08)
Ceased operations2015
Operating basesHarare International Airport
Fleet size5
Destinations0
Websiteflyafrica.com

History

Test flights were conducted in July 2014 (2014-07) in order to meet South African Civil Aviation Authority and Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) requirements.[4] The carrier advised that the first service was launched between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg on 17 July 2014 (2014-07-17), and scheduled services were slated to commence a week later, on 23 July.[5] However, these services reportedly did not commence citing operational logistics issues.[6] It was later advised that the fact the carrier had their aircraft registered in Zimbabwe and their pilots licensed in South Africa prevented scheduled services from being launched, as the CAAZ demanded the pilots to be licensed in the country.[7] Flights eventually commenced in August 2014.[2]

Flights on all routes were suspended in October 2015, after the airline's AOC was withdrawn by the CAAZ.[2] In addition to disputes between the shareholders, there was a failure to meet the regulatory requirements (including that the aircraft were not based in Zimbabwe, and the company did not have an accountable manager and a local head of maintenance) and the airline had not been remitting passenger services charges to CAAZ.[2] The suspension was upheld by the High Court of Zimbabwe in November 2015.[3]

There was a sister carrier Namibia flyafrica (based at Windhoek, Namibia), which was also forced to suspend operations given that it was wet-leasing a B737-500 from Zimbabwe flyafrica for its flights to South Africa. The Namibian Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) suspended the carrier's licence in November 2015 after an investigation showed it had failed to inform the DCA of Zimbabwe flyafrica's AOC revocation while continuing to operate its aircraft.[3]

Corporate affairs

Ownership

The airline is a joint venture between the Zimbabwean infrastructure company Nu.com (previously associated to the Zimbabwean start-up carrier Fresh Air, a project that never materialised)[8] and Flyafrica Ltd, a private aviation group.[1]

Key people

Zimbabwe flyafrica.com's CEO was Chakanyuka Karase,[1] but he is no longer an officer of the company.[3]

Destinations

According to its timetable, the carrier served the following destinations as of May 2015, although these have now all been terminated:

Base
Suspended route
Country City Airport Begin End Refs
Democratic Republic of CongoLubumbashiLubumbashi International Airport14 September 2015—[9]
South AfricaJohannesburgLanseria International Airport—[10]
South AfricaJohannesburgO.R. Tambo International Airport [Terminated]Un­knownUn­known[10]
ZambiaLusakaLusaka International Airport27 July 2015—[11]
ZimbabweBulawayoBulawayo Airport27 July 2015—[12][9]
ZimbabweHarareHarare International Airport Base—[12][13]
ZimbabweVictoria FallsVictoria Falls Airport—[13]

Fleet

Flyafrica acquired five ex-Czech Airlines Boeing 737-500 aircraft.[14] As of January 2015, the airline's fleet consisted of the following equipment, although only two aircraft were ever registered for use in Zimbabwe:[15]

Zimbabwe flyafrica.com fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Boeing 737-500 5 — ? 120[7] Three aircraft stored at PRG

See also

References
  1. Paul, Cuckoo (20 June 2014). "Zimbabwe LCC flyafrica set to launch in July". Air Transport World. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014.
  2. "Fly Africa airline suspended". Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  3. "Harare court upholds suspension of Zimbabwe flyafrica's AOC". ch-aviation. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. Katunga, Roberta (13 July 2014). "Fly Africa conducts Zim demo flights". Bulawayo24 News. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.
  5. "flyafrica.com Operates Inaugural Victoria Falls–Johannesburg Flight" (PDF) (Press release). flyafrica.com. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2014.
  6. "Flyafrica fails to fly". Bulawayo24 News. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.
  7. "Fly Africa flights to start this week after pilot licencing delay". New Zimbabwe. 26 July 2014. Archived 10 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Clark, Oliver (19 June 2014). "Flyafrica to start operations in July". Flightglobal. London. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014.
  9. "flyafrica Schedule". flyafrica.com. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  10. "FlyAfrica: Lanseria move reduces Namibia travel by R300". News24. 17 September 2015.
  11. "Fly Africa Delays Lusaka Launch to May 2015". Airline Route. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  12. "flyafrica.com 2015 outlook: rapid expansion and new Namibia base as competition intensifies". CAPA Centre for Aviation. 7 January 2015. Archived 7 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Flight Schedules". Flyafrica.com.
  14. "flyafrica.com and fastjet give Zimbabwe its first taste of LCCs with local start-up". Centre for Aviation. 2 July 2014. Archived 9 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  15. "Fleet". ch-aviation GmbH. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015.
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