South African airline FlySafair will start flights into Harare and Victoria Falls from Johannesburg in October this year after obtaining all the requisite regulatory approvals.
FlySafair made the announcement after getting the necessary approvals from the International Air Service Council and the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ).
The development provides further endorsement of the country's 'Open Skies Policy', as more airlines are already flying into Zimbabwe or have made indications to start flights into the country.
Just three foreign airlines were flying into Zimbabwe when President Mnangagwa's Government came into power in September 2017. The number has grown to over 23 presently.
The regulators approved applications from FlySafair and its South African counterpart Cemair to start flying into Harare and Victoria Falls on August 1, 2023.
"Plans for these routes have been in the pipeline for several months now," says Kirby Gordon, chief marketing officer at FlySafair. "We are so pleased to finally be able to announce the addition of these routes and more importantly begin operations just in time for the festive season."
The South African airliner will operate daily Boeing 737 flights with the inaugural flight departing Johannesburg on October 2.
FlySafair continues to grow its network with the addition of four new regional routes. The newest additions include Harare, Livingstone, Victoria Falls, and Maputo.
The first batch of new routes will be launched on October 2, 2023 and entail flights between Johannesburg and Harare and Johannesburg and Livingstone routes.
The Harare flights will operate daily while flights between Johannesburg and Livingstone are scheduled for four times weekly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
The next batch of routes will take off on October 3 and 5, 2023.
Respectively, these include Johannesburg to Victoria Falls which will operate three times per week, and Johannesburg to Maputo which will operate four times per week. CAAZ director general Elijah Chingosho said, "As the aviation regulator, we are fully committed to the growth of the aviation industry, positioning our economy for more trade, investment, and tourism.
"Granting FOPs (flight operations planning schedule) to these airlines will provide substantial benefits to the passenger, such as fare savings, increased connectivity, and more frequencies resulting in greater convenience and time savings."
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"The introduction of new routes to our schedule is always exciting," said Mr Gordon.
"We are happy to offer customers our low fares and on-time services on these additional routes. Tourism in Africa is definitely on the road to recovery. We hope to help play our part in growing the tourism industry both at home and abroad by connecting people through our passion for aviation."
The airline has undergone a period of rapid growth over the past 11 months, adding a number of new aircraft to its operating fleet and hiring many new staff members to accommodate this expansion.
The airline added three aircraft to its schedule in the first quarter and these will ultimately be used to operate these new routes.
FlySafair will join a host of other flights plying these routes which include Air Zimbabwe, Fastjet, Airlink, Cemair, FlySafair, South African Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, and Eurowings Discover.
