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Bulawayo Bureau
An Air Zimbabwe plane from Harare yesterday morning failed to land at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo after it allegedly lost its navigator signal due to bad weather.

The plane only managed to land safely in the City of Kings after midday, leaving its passengers stranded while others cancelled their trip.

Passengers said the failure by the Air Zimbabwe plane to land was a big letdown as they had to forego their business meetings.

This also compromised companies such as Zimpapers which had to delay distributing The Herald in Bulawayo.

Passengers said they were told by the plane crew that they could not land as they reached Bulawayo.

“Soon after our arrival in Bulawayo, the flight attendants told us that the plane could not land and we had to go back to Harare. They said it was too cloudy for a safe landing. We flew back to Harare and we were detained at the airport until 11am. Although we were delayed I think the measure taken was for our safety,” said one of the passengers, Mayenziwe Chamboko.

Other passengers complained that the delay had cost them business as they spent more time waiting to travel.

“I was coming to Bulawayo for meetings. I had to postpone the meetings for hours and that is very unprofessional. Air Zimbabwe must learn to communicate. It is their duty to check weather conditions in their destinations before taking us on board. We are very disappointed,” said one the passengers before walking away.

Farai Mhizha, another passenger, said they were forced to abort the second flight as it was pointless to travel anymore.

Air Zimbabwe spokesperson Shingai Dhliwayo said she could not immediately comment as she was in a noisy place.

Earlier this month, Air Zimbabwe passengers who intended to travel to South Africa failed to travel after the airline availed a smaller Airbus which could not accommodate all its clients.