Zimbabwe/Beijing Flights Underperforming
Zimbabwe's The Independent reports that Air Zimbabwe's new Harare/Singapore/Beijing route has been under performing, and that an Airbus A340 expected from China for the airline to operate on the route, has yet to come.
While awaiting the long-range airliner, Air Zimbabwe has been operating one of its two Boeing 767s on its new Asian route, but it reportedly has been regularly flying the route with less than 50 passengers aboard. Meanwhile, two 55-passenger Chinese-built MA60 turboprops the airline was hoping to secure remain in China because the airline was hoping to generate the revenue with which to purchase them on the Beijing route.
Air Zimbabwe's new China route is the result of recent diplomatic liaisons between China and Zimbabwe that have included the African company's designation with Approved Destination Status. The Economist reports that trade between China and Africa has increased an estimated nine-fold since 1999 and China now reportedly takes most of Zimbabwe's tobacco crop and has invested heavily in the copper industry of neighboring Zambia.