The Chronicle
BUDGET airline, Fastjet, on Thursday launched its inaugural flight between Zimbabwe and Botswana via the resort city of Victoria Falls to Maun in the neighbouring country.
Flights between Maun and Victoria Falls will be available on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday using an Embraer ERJ145 aircraft.
“Our inaugural flight lands in Maun, Botswana, and a traditional welcome from our colleagues at Maun International Airport.
“Our scheduled flights connecting Botswana and Zimbabwe start today,” the airline tweeted.
“We keep going the distance, connecting people, and places and contributing to tourism and trade.”
Fastjet expects the flights to help boost travel options for tourists as they explore some of the attractions that both tourism capitals offer.
The new Maun service sees Fastjet Zimbabwe operating scheduled flights into Botswana for the first time and bringing to three the international destinations that Fastjet has connected Victoria Falls to, after Johannesburg and Nelspruit Kruger in Mpumalanga.
Zimbabwe’s aviation industry continues to grow with new routes and airlines venturing into the Zimbabwean market.
Authorities have attributed the growing interest to open new routes in Zimbabwe to improved aviation infrastructure. The country’s biggest airport, Robert Gabriel Mugabe International, is undergoing a massive upgrade to increase its passenger and cargo handling capacity.
On the other hand, the Victoria Falls and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo airports have already been refurbished and upgraded to international standards.
The Airports Company of Zimbabwe has also outlined plans to upgrade all small airports in the country such as Buffalo Range and Kariba.
This was intended to support the revival and growth of the tourism industry, identified by the government as a low hanging fruit in the country’s economic turn-around plans.
-New Ziana
Article Source: The Chronicle