Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe flew off to the East for his annual holiday, but declined to use Air Zimbabwe because its new Chinese jetliner was "not safe".

Mugabe, who has been out of the news in Zimbabwe recently, left for Asia shortly after Christmas with a group of more than 30 people, mostly bodyguards and his children, wife and central bank governor Gideon Gono. Gono has since returned to Zimbabwe.

Air Zimbabwe sources said the airline ran into problems when it reserved a Chinese MA60 plane to fly Mugabe and his entourage. This was because the Boeing 737 favoured by Mugabe was due to be serviced.

A furious Mugabe refused to fly in the MA60.

Sources at Air Zimbabwe said they had received correspondence from the president's office saying this was for "safety reasons".

At the historic Focac summit between China's president Hu Jintao and 46 African leaders in November, 2006, Mugabe was given a seat at centre stage in the first row when the gathering signed the Beijing Declaration sealing greater co-operation between Africa and China.

Air Zimbabwe bought two MA60 planes from China last year and got an extra one free. The planes have frequently hit the headlines over their numerous technical problems leading to groundings or emergency landings.

Reports say the cash-strapped Air Zimbabwe could not afford to import spares to repair the MA60s and had to cannibalise one to keep flying the other two.

Mugabe has refused to fly in them since their arrival but expects his countrymen to do so.

"We offered the MA60 because we simply did not have an alternative at the time. But not to our surprise the president refused to fly it," said a well-placed Air Zimbabwe source.

He said Mugabe's refusal forced a sudden rescheduling which saw the airline delay its bigger B767 plane so that it could fly Mugabe to Johannesburg from where he connected to Singapore.

Whenever Mugabe goes on leave with his family, his expenses are bankrolled by the taxpayer because, he argues, he would still be working.

The holidays are particularly expensive as Mugabe is accompanied by hordes of bodyguards on the state's payroll.

His visit to Singapore has been very low key as he is said to have remained ensconced in a luxury hotel while his wife embarked on her usual shopping sprees.

Efforts to get comment from his office failed.