Air Zimbabwe (UM, Harare International) has taken delivery of its first own E145 following the arrival of N812HK (msn 145373) at Harare International on Tuesday, April 30.
Sporting the livery of the controversial stillborn start-up carrier Zimbabwe Airways, the former Trans States Airlines twinjet was ferried to Southern Africa from Kansas City International via Gander, Reykjavik Keflavik, Belfast International, Malta International, and Aswan.
"Zimbabwe has taken delivery of an Embraer plane, which landed at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport this morning," the Ministry of Information said in a tweeted statement. "The acquisition of the plane is part of efforts to revive the national airline, Air Zimbabwe."
Reports in the Zimbabwean press have indicated state-owned Air Zimbabwe is in the process of acquiring four of the Embraer Regional Jets for use in developing shorthaul domestic and regional services.
Air Zimbabwe has used the E145 before albeit as part of a wet-lease agreement with South Africa's Solenta Aviation (SET, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo).
The arrival comes at a time when Air Zimbabwe's only remaining active aircraft, - B767-200(ER) Z-WPF (msn 24867) - suffered engine surges on departure from Johannesburg O.R. Tambo on Sunday evening. Although the near 30-year-old twinjet landed safely in Harare, it has since been taken out of service in order to undergo maintenance checks.
The remainder of Air Zimbabwe's fleet - one other B767-200(ER), one A320-200, two B737-200Advs. and one MA60 - are all inactive awaiting maintenance. Based on ch-aviation analysis of FlightRadar24 ADS-B data, for the time being, Air Zimbabwe continues operations with a B737-500 ZS-PKV (msn 25418) wet-leased from Africa Charter Airline (FSK, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo).
