Air Zimbabwe, whose pilots have been striking for 12 days, is to buy two Airbus A340 planes for about USD$400 million, a state-controlled newspaper has reported.
But the company chairman said he was unaware of the plan.
"The country is expected to take delivery of the aircraft soon and operational modalities have already been completed," the state-controlled Sunday Mail reported, quoting an unnamed source.
It wrote: "Staff, including engineering experts that had been sent for training in Germany, is now returning, but it should be noted that Airbus is prepared to send some of the crew to be attached to the planes for a two-year period.
The paper said the planes would cost a total of USD$400 million dollars, but Air Zimbabwe chairman Jonathan Kadzura said he was not aware of the order. "I have also heard about it, but to be frank, I am not aware of it," Kadzura told the paper.
But the report was likely to inflame tensions with the embattled airline's pilots, who went on strike on September 8 saying they have not been paid their full salaries.
The airline currently flies two Boeing B767-200s, three B737-200s and three Chinese Xian MA 60 turboprops.