HAVING one loss-making state-owned airline is rank enough. What,then, of a government that wants two?Earlier this year Zimbabweans were startled to learn that the government had concluded a secret $70m deal to buy four moment-hand Boeing jets from Malaysia to form the core of a new national airline, or Zimbabwe Airways. This venture is supposed to compete with Air Zimbabwe,the flag carrier, which ran up enormous debts thanks to destitute management and ex-President Robert Mugabe’s habit of commandeering its planes so his wife could shop abroad.
The government hopes to stimulate tourism and business by reopening long-haul routes that are closed to Air Zimbabwe, and whose planes can be impounded as soon as they land on foreign runways. It suspended flights to London’s Gatwick airport in 2011,for instance, after one of its planes was seized over an unpaid debt. It has since been banned from European skies because of concerns over the safety of its creaking planes.
Critics questioned...
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Source: economist.com