Zimbabwe: Runway Glitch Grounds SAA Flight

News added by Muhammad Kashif under World Travel News

A South African Airways flight to Johannesburg, on which Finance Minister Tendai Biti and African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka were passengers, could not take off from the Harare International Airport last Tuesday evening after the runway lighting system developed a fault.

The two, who were among business people connecting to Cape Town for the World Economic Forum, had to leave Harare the following day. Runway lighting systems are some of the most critical aircraft control devices installed at airports to give an outline of the runway and must be seen from the air to facilitate take-offs and landings at night.

Passengers who had boarded the same flight told The Financial Gazette that the plane left the loading bay at 1745hrs, but returned a few minutes later due to poor visibility. David Chawota, the chief executive officer of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ), which manages and operates the country’s airports, said the incident was caused by a fault in the runaway lighting system, currently under rehabilitation.

"The lighting system has over-lived its useful life," Chawota said. "We have embarked on a project to rehabilitate the ground lighting system. So far we have completed two runways measuring one kilometre and 1,1 kilometres each and about three kilometres remains to be done. We don’t have the money yet."

An estimated US$30 million is required to repair the three-kilometer strip, which must be completed before an audit team from the International Civil Aviation Organisation visits the country to assess the airport’s compliance with international safety standards. The team is expected before the end of the year.

Although the Harare International Airport was upgraded and expanded in 2001, CAAZ has struggled to maintain the airport’s modern equipment and installations, including flights information monitors, due to poor cash flows linked to a harsh operating environment and a massive pull-out by international airlines.

Apart from Air Zimbabwe, currently only one international airline and 12 regional airlines use the country’s largest international airport, which used to be a regional flight hub. Despite these challenges and the absence of a taxiway to link runways with other ground facilities, the airport is still rated the fourth largest international airport in Africa after South Africa’s Oliver Tambo; Ethiopia’s Bole and South Africa’s Cape Town.

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