MORE than 200 Air Zimbabwe passengers are stranded in
Wuhan, China, several weeks after paying airfares to be flown home, while the
flag carrier replaces a Boeing 767 engine which developed a fault mid-flight.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which will see the
global economy shrink by 7,4%, the travel and tourism industry has been the
hardest hit, with most airlines grounded.
The passengers, who include Zimbabweans and South Africans,
paid airfares a month ago and were promised to be chartered to their
destinations by July 15. However, they are stuck at a hotel in Wuhan.
Some of the stranded travellers told the Zimbabwe Independent
that they have not received adequate feedback as to when they will be flown
home.
Officials are said to have told the group that the plane
was being serviced in Bangkok, Thailand.
"After we paid for the airfares, we were told that the
airline will ferry us home on 15 July. But, surprisingly, we were later told
that the plane is having its engine serviced in Thailand.
"We came from different cities and gathered here in
Wuhan since July 8 where we are booked at a hotel. We are stuck here. We really
need to go home," the source said.
Air Zimbabwe
spokesperson Firstme Vhitori said the delay arose from the challenges presented
by Covid-19.
"It is important to clarify that Air Zimbabwe is not
booking any passenger flights due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. We are
strictly operating only repatriation and cargo flights on behalf of
charterers," Vhitori said.
"Dates of the charter in question will only be
available once all logistical issues have been addressed. We do bear with the
concerned charterer and all the passengers who have been affected by the
Covid-19 restrictions on movement."
Vhitori would not divulge the logistical issues experienced
by the airline. But an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767 plane on July 1 experienced a
mid-air emergency from Bangkok to Pakistan and was forced to make a u-turn,
after one of its engines shut down. Flight uM462 was 40km from Bangkok
Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Thailand, with 17 crew and two passengers onboard
the Boeing 767200. The aircraft was scheduled to fly to Islamabad, Pakistan,
where it was due to pick up 180 passengers for a special repatriation flight to
South Africa and Zimbabwe, Air Zimbabwe said then.
"However, shortly after leaving Bangkok, the flight
crew sent an emergency signal (squawk 7700). The Boeing 767-200 left engine
reported an abnormal parameter, therefore the pilots were forced to shut it
down, as established standard operating procedures require," the airline
explained in a statement later on the same day.
On February 25 last year, the same Air Zimbabwe plane
delayed a Johannesburg-bound flight from Harare as engineers worked on the left
engine.
Two months later, on April 26, last year, the same left
engine was affected after a bird strike on take-off from Bulawayo.
Two days later, the same aircraft had a tailpipe fire
incident in Johannesburg with its left engine emitting flames. Independent
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