The government has approached the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) for emergency fuel supplies as an acute shortage of Jet A1 fuel threatens to ground the national airliner, Air Zimbabwe, sources said yesterday. According to the sources, senior Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) officials left for Johannesburg last Sunday to plead with ACSA for an undisclosed amount of Jet A1 fuel and to discuss ways through which Zimbabwe could import the fuel cheaply, if possible with South Africaâs help.
| I wonder if they went by bus... |
âThey are in South Africa. The purpose of the visit was to try and convince the South Africans to supply Zimbabwe with Jet A1 fuel,â a CAAZ official told The Business Daily yesterday. CAAZ chief executive Karikoga Kaseke could not be reached for comment on the matter but airports director Jerry Ndlovu confirmed Zimbabwe had sought South Africaâs help to stave off the shortage that could scare away the few remaining international airlines still landing at Harare International Airport.
| Bet that place is hoppin'... |
âWe have been in touch with ACSA over possibilities of them helping us procure fuel. We also want to see how they are getting it cheaply,â said Ndlovu. Zimbabwe is in the grip of an acute fuel shortage since Libya cut off an oil for barter deal with Harare last year. The country has been without foreign currency to pay for crucial imports including fuel since the International Monetary Fund, donors and development partners cut off aid over differences with Harare on governance issues. |