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Herald Reporter
Air Zimbabwe’s Boeing 767-200ER returned home to Harare yesterday morning after brining home 190 South Africans and Zimbabweans stranded in China as a result of travel disruptions caused by Covid-19.
The plane was chartered by Maple Aviation Limited to bring stranded Southern Africans back from Asia. There was a delay when one engine had to be replaced in Bangkok, but the spare engine was flown from Harare, fitted last week by a team of Japanese Nippon Airways engineers in Thailand under the supervision of the two Air Zimbabwe engineers flying with the crew and certified as fit for commercial operations by the Thai and Zimbabwean civil aviation authorities and by manufacturer Boeing. It then made two flights from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Wuhan to collect the stranded South Africans and Zimbabweans before leaving on Monday morning with the combined groups for Johannesburg and Harare.
Air Zimbabwe spokesperson Ms Firstme Vitori said last night the plane arrived at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International at 7.15am after a stopover in Johannesburg to drop off the South Africans.
The aircraft departed Kuala Lumpur with a total of 190 passengers, 112 South Africans and 78 Zimbabweans. At each airport it landed in on its series of flights, the aircraft was disinfected in accordance with standards and protocols set by the World Health Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, with a certificate of compliance being issued by the relevant airport port health authorities. In Harare, the aircraft went through the same process of disinfection before any service providers or staff are allowed access. All passengers went through the mandatory quarantine protocols before being cleared to travel and board the aircraft.
“Our crews have adequate personal protective equipment on board for every sector and they have since gone into a monitored self-quarantine for 21 days during which period PCR tests will be conducted on days 8,15 and 21,” she said.
Online Reporter