Air Zimbabwe to receive small planes in October on a lease agreement

Air Zimbabwe will lease six smaller aircraft which carry up to 50 passengers. The Herald speculates that the aircraft would be coming from ECC Leasing which was established in 2002 to manage and market pre-owned aircraft. ECC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a Brazilian firm, Embraer.

At the end of July this year, Transport Minister Joram Gumbo told The Sunday Mail that he was in advanced negotiations with a supplier of smaller aircrafts but rejected reports that he was talking to Embraer. Said Gumbo:

The issue at hand is that the planes that I think we may lease are (like) Embraers because they are small and they carry about 50 passengers. I can’t afford long-haul aircrafts for the region. I am in the middle of negotiations to lease planes; that is a fact. I realised that partnerships may give us headaches . . . I want to keep the national flag (on the planes), so leasing would be ideal . . .

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