AIR Zimbabwe pilots and cabin staff returned to work on Friday, but the airline said it was not resuming its long-haul flights until Sunday.
The state-owned airline serviced its domestic and regional routes starting Friday morning, marking the end of the costly strike.
Pilots and cabin crew walked out on September 8 after demanding outstanding back-payments – leading to a two-week stand-off with management who insisted the airline was broke.
Patson Mbiriri, the permanent secretary in the ministry of transport said “all employees shall be paid their deferred allowances as mutually agreed upon”.
“Suspension orders shall be withdrawn and no attendant disciplinary measures will be taken against any of the pilots,” he added in a statement.
The pilots took a pay cut in February 2009 when the country abandoned the Zimbabwe dollar and switched to a multiple currency system – but Air Zimbabwe said it needed time to raise enough revenues to pay its staff in foreign currency.
The airline had not yet paid the backdated cuts from the pilots’ salaries when they grounded planes.
An Air Zimbabwe spokesman said the airline would resume its profitable Harare-London route on Sunday.
David Mwenga, the airline’s general manager for Europe said Friday: “We expect the service on this route to return to normalcy starting Sunday.”
A Boeing 767 will leave Harare on Sunday morning, arriving in London later that day. The return flight will be on Monday evening, Mwenga said.
Air Zimbabwe also flies to London on Wednesdays with the return flight to Harare on Thursdays.
The strike was costing the struggling airline US$500,000 a day, according to official estimates.
During the strike, Air Zimbabwe resorted to leasing a Boeing 737 from Air Aquarius from South Africa to fly passengers hit by the action.
The strike led to the cancellation of all Air Zimbabwe flights, including those to Britain, South Africa, China, the DRC and Zambia.
The carrier is one of several state-owned firms that have posted losses and have been shortlisted for a sell-off. The airline is weighed down by debt, an ageing fleet and high staff turnover.