Zambia Airways (ZN) has resumed flights to Zimbabwe after 27 years. The airline was relaunched in December 2021 and has reentered the regional community with a flight to Harare.
The inaugural flight took off on March 28 from Lusaka Kenneth Kaunda Worldwide Airport (LUN) and landed at Harare Robert Gabriel Mugabe Worldwide Airport (HRE), the place a water cannon salute was awaited. The flight was welcomed by authorities officers, information reporters, and numerous aviation, hospitality and tourism stakeholders.
New regional routes for the airline
Zambia Airways had been liquidated for greater than 25 years however resumed operations on December 1, 2021, with the assistance of Ethiopian Airways and the Zambian Industrial Growth Company. Since then, it has been working flights on home routes.
Final month, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) granted two International Operator Permits (FOPs) to Eswatini Air and Zambia Airways. This gave ZN the inexperienced gentle to function scheduled flights to Harare, which noticed it re-enter the worldwide community after practically three many years.
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The 55-minute flight to Harare was operated on a DHC-8-400, the one plane within the provider’s fleet. The airline will function three weekly flights between Lusaka and Harare and plans to fly no less than 1.9 million passengers yearly by 2028.
Intra-Africa connectivity
Quite a few stakeholders have been concerned within the improvement of aviation in Africa. In step with the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the Open Skies Coverage, Zambia Airways is spreading its wings and selling intra-Africa connectivity.
Because the trade has nearly absolutely recovered from the pandemic, it’s the excellent time for African airways to step up and serve the continent. About 70% of African air journey is served by worldwide airways. The LUN-HRE has been dominated by Qatar Airways and Emirates, which function 5 and 7 weekly flights.
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Launching the Zambia Airways flight can considerably increase commerce, tourism and enterprise alternatives between the 2 neighboring international locations. At an occasion following the airline’s landing, Zimbabwe’s Transport and Infrastructure Growth Deputy Minister mentioned to NewsDay;
“Certainly, our two international locations are Siamese twins who share rather a lot in widespread. Allow us to keep in mind that the chance supplied by Zambia Airways creates copious room for scaling up our additional co-operation in areas of aviation and deepening the people-to-people relations, as these are a catalyst for stronger relations between our two international locations. To realize the specified middle-income standing and absolutely modernize our international locations, it’s crucial that we develop dependable, ample and applicable aviation hyperlinks.”
Zambia Airways enlargement within the close to future
The airline is delighted to have launched its first regional route since its restructuring. The route is anticipated to have a excessive demand; therefore, the airline plans to launch a frequent flyer program within the close to future. This system can be referred to as Zambezi Miles, permitting vacationers to earn and spend rewards on Zambia Airways flights.
The Zambian authorities is eyeing a collaboration with different airways working the LUN-HRE route and fifth freedom flights to South Africa. Talking on the welcoming occasion, Performing Everlasting Secretary for the Transport and Logistics Ministry of Zambia, Stephen Mbewe, mentioned;
“We’re very grateful for our two airport cooperation, within the collaboration we have now been doing for therefore a few years, we have seen this throughout the time British Airways used to fly right here, Kenya Airways, and now we see it with Qatar and Emirates . We hope the collaboration will go on with a number of different airways, however we even have a plea honorable minister. We want a fifth freedom to do the Lusaka-Harare-Johannesburg route.”
The 2 states are lively members of the Southern African Growth Group (SADC), based in Lusaka, Zambia. SADC international locations have substantial journey and commerce partnerships, which the airline can leverage to reinforce its regional connectivity.
Supply: NewsDay