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KZN sells jets

Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal government has decided to sell its Learjet 31A and Jetstream 41 aeroplanes for reasons of cost efficiency and practicality, its executive council said. "The proposal to sell the two provincial planes was made by the premier... Sbu Ndebele, to the provincial cabinet at the beginning of August," the province's head of communications, Harry Mchunu, said. Ndebele said in May that he would review the province's air transport service and rationalise it. "It was felt that their need had largely fallen away after Pietermaritzburg had been confirmed as the capital of the province following the April 14 general elections."

The two aircraft were acquired in 1996 to fly government officials between Ulundi, then joint capital with Pietermaritzburg, and other parts of the province. The Learjet 31A cost the taxpayer in the region of R4.6m a year to operate. "However, the utilisation of the aircraft does not justify this expense. It is a very expensive aircraft for short non-scheduled flights within the province because of its high fuel consumption on take-off and landing and high maintenance costs. Furthermore, the aircraft requires two pilots to fly it," Mchunu said. The cost of the Jetstream 41 amounted to about R9.7m a year. "Even with Ulundi as capital, this 30-seater aircraft was running at 50% empty. On some days it would carry no more than six passengers," he added.

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