Huge jump in flights into Zim
ZIMBABWE’S airports handled over 15 000 flights during the April to June period this year, representing a 40 percent increase in air traffic at the local facilities compared to the previous quarter.
The jump in air traffic has been attributed to the Government’s improvement of aviation infrastructure, introduction of new routes by airlines and the ongoing recovery of the global tourism industry.
Data obtained from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) shows that the country’s three major international airports — Robert Gabriel Mugabe (RGM), Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Victoria Falls — handled a combined 15 293 flights between April and June, up from 10 952 during the first three months of the year.
Over that period, RGM International had 6 562 flights, while there were 3 815 flights recorded at Victoria Falls International Airport.
Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport handled 1 547.
In total, there were 7 654 domestic flights, while 7 639 were international.
The airports also handled a total of 436 022 passengers over the same period.
“Airports reported more flights (military excluded) in the second quarter than in the first quarter of 2023,” reads the new report from ZimStat.
“Other airports (Hwange, Masvingo, Buffalo Range, Charles Prince and Kariba) had an increase in flights of 134,3 percent.
“During the second quarter of 2023, Victoria Falls International Airport recorded 3 815 flights, depicting a 33,2 percent increase from 2 864 in the first quarter of 2023.”
Presently, 19 international airlines are servicing the Zimbabwe route, with more set to introduce flights next year.
The Government, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ) have led an aggressive destination marketing campaign that continues to attract an increasing number of airlines into the country.
This month, Southern Africa’s largest independent airline, Airlink, will launch direct flights between Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and Victoria Falls International Airport, a development expected to boost travel between the two popular tourist destinations.
This also comes as Namibian flag carrier, Fly Namibia, is preparing to introduce four direct weekly flights to the resort city from Windhoek early next year.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Engineer Joy Makumbe said the authorities are doubling efforts to lure more airlines into Zimbabwe.
“An increase in air transport movement has been influenced, to a large extent, by the aggressive destination marketing initiatives by the Government of Zimbabwe, ACZ, ZTA and private stakeholders in the tourism source markets,” she said.
“Efforts have also been escalated to lure airlines from these tourism source markets to patronise our airspace and airports. New airlines have been courted, as well as old airlines to increase frequencies into the country.”
Government’s engagement and re-engagement drive, she added, has further played a huge part in making Zimbabwe an attractive destination.
“This is coupled with the attractive economic environment created through the numerous new trade agreements entered into by the Second Republic,” she continued.
“Furthermore, the liberalisation of the air transport market in the country has contributed immensely to the increased connectivity network due to the adoption and implementation of tenets of the Single African Air Transport Market by Zimbabwe, such as granting of the fifth freedom of traffic rights to airlines.”
Last month, FlySafair introduced a direct flight from Johannesburg to Harare, and another between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls. CemAir also launched four weekly flights between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls on August 9, while plans are underway to introduce additional services into Harare from Johannesburg. In addition, Ethiopian Airlines detagged Victoria Falls and Bulawayo on August 4, before tagging Bulawayo with Ndola, Zambia, while Victoria Falls was tagged with Gaborone.
“The policy of engagement and re-engagement, as well as making Zimbabwe open for business, has been a masterstroke,” added Eng Makumbe.
“These policy pronouncements have resulted in several airlines considering Zimbabwe as a worthwhile destination, hence the growth in the numbers of airlines coming to Zimbabwe.
“Airlink will be launching scheduled flights between Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (South Africa) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) on November 28.
“Fly Namibia is scheduled to introduce four weekly flights between Windhoek (Namibia) and Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) in the first quarter of 2024.”
Several international airlines pulled out of Zimbabwe between 1998 and 2008, citing dwindling passenger volumes and an unstable economic environment.
However, the turnaround of Zimbabwe’s economy, coupled with the revamping of local airports and Government’s engagement and re-engagement drive, have seen some of the airlines resuming flights into the country.
Earlier this year, the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, named Zimbabwe the tourist destination that has soared the most in popularity since 2019.
The 2023 Telegraph Travel Awards ranked Zimbabwe above other popular destinations such as Egypt, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Madagascar, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
In the regional category, Zimbabwe was ranked the seventh top tourist destination in Africa after South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania and Zambia.
The Daily Telegraph cited Zimbabwe as the “biggest riser” in popularity since 2019 on a list of 10 countries, beating powerhouses such as Brazil, France, Spain and Malaysia.