New airline flies into Victoria Falls
FLYSAFAIR, a South Africa-based low-cost airline yesterday launched a service between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg, becoming the 9th international airline to fly into the country’s prime resort city.
A 165-seater FA755 aircraft landed just after 4pm at the Victoria Falls International Airport with 89 passengers on board, and it was supposed to depart with 76 passengers.
It will operate scheduled flights three days a week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, alternating with another FlySafair service between Johannesburg and Livingstone across the Zambezi River on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
In South Africa, FlySafair commands 67 percent of the domestic market share and has expanded its fleet to include the Boeing 747 aircraft.
The maiden flight into Victoria Falls followed the launch of a Johannesburg-Harare-Livingstone service on Monday.
Victoria Falls International Airport
Various tourism stakeholders including tour operators, hoteliers, tourism executives, Government and local authority representatives attended the launch ceremony at the Victoria Falls International Airport.
The aircraft was welcomed by a canon water salute amid traditional music provided by Ilembe Shining Spears after which the guest of honour, Victoria Falls town clerk, Mr Ronnie Dube, assisted by the airline’s executive manager for flight operations Captain Hans Joachim Zeuner, Tourism Business Council of Zimbabwe Matabeleland North chair Mrs Barbara Murasiranwa-Hughes, and Airports Company of Zimbabwe management cut the ribbon to officially unveil the new service.
FlySafair is the official sponsor of South Africa’s rugby national team, the Springboks. Tourism executives described the coming in of the airline as a game changer to local tourism. They said Victoria Falls will be put on the world radar if the airline brings the Springboks to Victoria Falls.
Addressing guests, Mr Dube said the interest being shown by airlines on destination Victoria Falls was a result of infrastructure development implemented by the Government which upgraded the airport to accommodate more and wide-bodied aircraft.
“The coming on board of FlySafair answers to the Victoria Falls vision to be a smart competitive green city sustaining a well-developed community and offering a safe tourist and investment destination of choice by 2030, which is consistent with the central Government vision 2030,” he said.
“This new venture will also aid in boosting investment and job creation opportunities in Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. This is a game-changer and we applaud you for bringing this major development to our doorstep and wish you a prosperous exploit.”
Mr Dube said the door remains open for more airlines to fly into Victoria Falls and commended Government, the Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ), Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, tour operators and other partners for marketing the destination.
“In line with President Mnangagwa’s mantra ‘Zimbabwe is open for business,’ I would like to say Victoria Falls is open for business. The economy of Victoria Falls thrives on tourism and initiatives that bring more tourists to the city are warmly welcome,” he said.
Other international airlines flying into Victoria Falls are Fastjet, Eurowings Discover, Ethiopian Airways, Kenyan Airways, MacAir, Airlink, South African Airways and CemAir. — chronicle
