Chinese plane stuck in Bulawayo

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By Staff Reporter

AIR ZIMBABWE'S Chinese-made Modern Aircraft 60 passenger plane failed to take-off from Bulawayo on Thursday evening, sparking fears it had broken down.

Passengers who were due to fly on the 1700hrs flight from Bulawayo to Harare told New Zimbabwe.com they had been told the flight had been rescheduled for 2pm on Friday.

The MA60 is just a few weeks into service in Zimbabwe after Air Zimbabwe bought two of the planes from a Chinese supplier, and got a third as a gift from the Chinese government.

A passenger who was due to fly on the plane said: "We were told the plane was out of service, and on further enquiries it became clear the plane had developed some problems."

No comment was immediately available from Air Zimbabwe last night.

Air Zimbabwe has earmarked the planes to replace the two Boeing 737s which have been servicing domestic routes, but have now been reassigned to service regional routes.

There were concerns recently on Air Zimbabwe's test flight to Victoria Falls when government officials who made the journey to the holiday resort on the MA60 chose to fly back in the Boeing 737.

Zimbabwe was one of the first customers for the Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group Co, the manufacturers of the plane as part of President Robert Mugabe's 'Look East' policy, seen as a costly sulk at Western countries which have imposed sanctions on his regime.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's Daily Mirror newspaper reports that Air Zimbabwe shattered aviation records by cruising more than 6 000km between Dubai and Harare with one passenger on Wednesday.

The paper says the incident has courted the ire of senior government officials who have questioned the logic of the trip and the introduction of dozens of new routes without having aggressively marketed the initiatives.
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