Zimbabwe in talks to attract more airlines

from DANIEL JONES in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
VICTORIA FALLS – THE Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ) is in talks with over 30 airlines that have shown interest to fly into the country.

This interest comes as the company puts in place an air service development to improve air access and enhance attractiveness and competitiveness of the capital Harare and Victoria Falls, the prime tourist city.

The aim is to guide air service and identify potential business source markets to attract airlines.

“We have had 50 meetings with airlines and since January and over 30 airlines have been engaged. They are targeting to expand frequencies or start new routes,” said ACZ Marketing Manager, Sarudzai Muza.

Zimbabwe is targeting a return to the 1999 peak when there were more than 40 airlines servicing the local routes.

Currently, Airlink, Air Zimbabwe, Emirates, Ethiopian Airways, Eurowings Discover, Fastjet, Kenyan Airways, LAM Mozambique, MarkAir and South African Airways operate flights in the country.

Muza appealed for support from the industry to market the destination and partner airlines.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) manager, Jefreeys Manjengwa, challenged tourism stakeholders to cooperate in marketing the destination and attracting airlines.

The Victoria Falls Airport recently had its capacity upgraded to accommodate bigger aircrafts.

Work is also underway to upgrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (RGMIA) in Harare.

Zimbabwe’s major tourism source markets include Australia, Britain, Germany, the United States (US) and some Asian countries.

– CAJ News