Only 1Passenger, Chess Grandmaster Nigel Short , On Air Zimbabwe , SA to Vic Falls

AIR Zimbabwe recorded another aviation record as it flew one passenger from Johannesburg to Victoria on a 105-seater plane.

The Boeing 737 plane has 12 business and 93 economy class seats.

The lone passenger chess grandmaster Nigel Short went on micro blogging site, Twitter, announcing to the world as the troubled airline continued breaking aviation records, but for the wrong reasons.

“I am not saying they are losing money, but I was the sole passenger on the Air Zimbabwe 737 from Jo’burg-Victoria Falls,” Short tweeted last week.

The message was re-tweeted 41 times meaning that it reached a wider audience, a bad advertisement for the airline whose turnaround strategy was premised on conquering the skies.

AirZim confirmed in written responses that it had flown one passenger.

“Please be advised that the aircraft in question operated Victoria Falls-Bulawayo then Johannesburg and it became necessary for operational reasons to position the aircraft to Victoria Falls to operate a scheduled flight Victoria Falls-Harare. The flight had therefore been rescheduled and some of the booked passengers had opted for other earlier flights,” acting CEO Edmund Makona’s personal assistant Emma Benhura said.

In September 2011, the airline  flew one passenger from Victoria Falls to Harare. In 2006, the troubled airline also flew one passenger from Dubai to Harare. Source: NewsDay