Airline rejects Zim money
KENYAN Airways has become the first international airline to put its foot down in Zimbabwe, saying it won’t accept Harare’s “funny money” for its air tickets.
The airline, which flies into Harare and Victoria Falls, issued a statement over the weekend to its area managers in which it said it was withdrawing its “ticketing authority” in Zimbabwe.
It said this was a “temporary measure… In light of the increasing foreign currency repatriation difficulties experienced since 2016, we regret to inform our trade partners that Kenya Airways is temporarily suspending distribution of its ticketing authority in the Zimbabwe market from September1.” It added that it was looking for “a favourable solution”.
Kenya Airways will still fly its routes in and out of Zimbabwe, but will now only accept bookings made with real cash, such as US dollars, or via credit or debit cards linked to foreign bank accounts. What that means, airline insiders say, is that travellers, mostly from Zimbabwe, can no longer pay for any Kenya Airlines ticket from their local bank account or from the cash facility linked to cellphones, known as Eco Cash. Kenyan Airways, like other airlines operating to Zimbabwe, has not been able to access cash from tickets issued in Zimbabwe as the dollars in local bank accounts cannot be transferred out of the country. The cash in local bank accounts can only be used in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has been desperately short of foreign currency in this latest chapter of its continuing economic crisis over the past two years. In 2008 it had such massive inflation that it abandoned its local currency, the Zimbabwe dollar. Before the inclusive government, Zimbabwe, in late 2008, adopted most of the world’s major currencies as legal tender, but settled mainly on the US dollar. Other airlines, such as South African Airways and Comair, in particular, also have cash tied up in Zimbabwe which they cannot convert to rand. It is not clear whether Ethiopian Airlines has a special facility with the central bank to allow it to continue operating into Harare and Victoria Falls.
Other foreign airlines that have operations in Zimbabwe are Fast Jet and more recently Rwanda Air. Fast Jet has, extraordinarily, set up an internal flight between Harare and Bulawayo. It is not clear how it will be financing this operation. Emirates operates a shuttle from Harare to Lusaka that connects with its daily flight to Dubai. Those tickets are also available to Zimbabweans using electronic cash and the local printed currency, Bond Notes, which are, however, hard to find and are not convertible.
Many foreigners visiting Zimbabwe describe payment for shopping via Eco Cash or “swipe” – debit cards attached to local bank accounts – as “funny money”. So Zimbabweans with access to “real” foreign money have been using international airlines cheaply as they can sell their US dollars for nearly double the local rate, which means they are paying about half the normal airfare for foreign travel.