Air Zimbabwe currently grounded

update (25 May 2011): Bulawayo24 is reporting that Air Zimbabwe and Zambezi Airlines have reached an amicable agreement, so that Zimbabwe's flag carrier's affected routes are now operational again - regional, domestic and overseas flights have resumed.

update (23 May 2011): Air Zimbabwe sole functional plane, a Xian MA60, which developed problems with its aircraft clock and is therefore actually not functional, will only return to service once Air Zimbabwe had secured spare parts from China.

Zimbabwe's flag carrier Air Zimbabwe had to cancel all of its regional flights after Zambia-based Zambezi Airlines took back a leased plane over a $460000 unpaid debt.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) has also declared the national carrier's three Boeing 737 planes, which have reached a certain limit of 34000 cycles or trips, too old to continue in service. According to sources, CAAZ declared the three airplanes therefore a "public danger".
The airline's three Chinese-made Xian MA60 are also not out of order. The sole functional plane failed to take off yesterday (18 May 2011), while the other two are currently unusable - one was damaged after a runway incident with warthogs last year and the other was simply declared "unusable".
The carrier's two Boeing 767 servicing the Harare <> China and Harare <> London routes are also grounded because Air Zimbabwe has been unable to meet the cost of fuel.
Air Zimbabwe was also suspended by the International Air Transport Association (Iata) over a $280 000 debt.