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HARARE – The administrator in charge of Air Zimbabwe has presented a controversial plan to force all international airlines to land in Harare. Air Zimbabwe is completing the final leg of all passenger air travel to Zimbabwe.
The controversial plan would see the withdrawal of landing rights granted to international carriers such as South African Airways, British ComAir and Kenyan Airways.
The main concern is the use by foreign airlines of Victoria Falls and Bulawayo, which has cannibalized traffic from the capital, which has had an impact on the state-owned carrier.
Grant Thornton's Tonderayi Mukubvu, directors of Air Zimbabwe, said restricting Zimbabwe to a single international gateway would force foreign carriers to use Air Zimbabwe for roundtrip flights to other cities in the country. , especially Victoria Falls, which depend on tourism.
"We plan to review our landing rights for all international flights. We believe that while we are developing Harare (RGM International Airport) into a hub, there are other airlines directly serving Victoria Falls in Bulawayo. We believe that these should land in Harare and allow us to distribute all these passengers around Zimbabwe. In doing so, we are actually creating our own hub, "Mukubvu told the Sunday Mail.
According to the latest aviation schedules, Victoria Falls and Bulawayo currently record 37 (19.68%) and 16 (8.51%) weekly international departures compared with 135 in Harare (71.81%). In total, secondary cities account for 28.2% of the country's weekly international flights.
Zimbabwe's international traffic was largely confined to Harare until November 2016, when a new 4,000 x 60 m runway was opened at Victoria Falls. The $ 150 million China-funded band has since enabled the deployment of widebody aircraft in the resort. South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines currently use A330 and B787 capacity almost daily.
In an effort to help harness the perceived economic benefits of Africa's longstanding Open Skies proposal, known as the Yamoussoukro Decision but recently renamed SAATM, the Zimbabwean government has also begun to grant 5th freedom traffic rights to many foreigners. carriers.
While the practice was initially limited to Harare, where Emirates, Rwandair, Air Tanzania, TAAG Angola Airlines, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and Malawi Airlines are fighting for the fifth Freedom Road – Harare-Lusaka and its return – since then, Kenya Airways began offering Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta-Victoria Falls-Cape Town roundtrip flights and return flights. It should be noted that Air Zimbabwe has been escaping the Lusaka market since its doors were opened to foreign competition.
The state-owned indebted airline is currently trying to restructure its business in order to attract a willing foreign investor to do so. At present, Air Zimbabwe's network has been reduced to a handful of routes, including from Harare to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls; Harare in Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Dar es Salaam and Victoria Falls in Johannesburg
His only aircraft in service, the B767-200 (ER) Z-WPF, was recently decommissioned until June 19, citing the need for mandatory maintenance. However, it seeks to introduce at least two Embraer ERJ145s with the aim of restoring its once-prolific national and regional network over short distances.
(Additional reports CH Aviation)
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