$300m Debt: Air Zimbabwe Lays Off 200 Workers Amid Financial Woes

Zimbabwe’s state-owned airline has laid off 200 workers, roughly half of its staff, with immediate effect.

The job losses are part of a turnaround strategy to bring struggling Air Zimbabwe back to profitability from a $300m (£230m) debt.

Last month the EU banned it from using its airspace, citing safety concerns.

There have been major changes at the national airline since President Robert Mugabe’s son-in-law took over as chief operating officer last year.

“We were overstaffed by a lot and we are also trying to weed out people without the right qualifications,” the airline’s chairwoman Chipo Dyanda said on Wednesday.

“The retrenchment is meant to give space to the airline so that we can redeploy the money saved back into the company.” An Air Zimbabwe spokesperson told state media that management has also been trimmed from 28 to just 12 and the finance department from 36 to 17.