By Ntombi Mhlongo
The Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ) has supported the Kingdom’s revived airline, Eswatini Air by offering some relief in operational costs for the first 12 months.
This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer Captain President Qiniso Dhlamini during the maiden flight of Eswatini Air to and from Zimbabwe on Friday.
Though not revealing figures, he mentioned that the ACZ offered a package with good incentives that showed its commitment to strengthening the relationship between Zimbabwe and the Kingdom of Eswatini as far as promoting the aviation sector.
The CEO was all smiles as he decried how grateful he was for the new partnership.
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“I am delighted to be standing here on this occasion of the Eswatini Airline’s return to Zimbabwe. The national airline of the Kingdom of Eswatini which was known as the Royal Swazi National Airways at the time used to operate in Harare between 1977 and 1999 when we ceased operations. Today, we are back, 24 years later. We are happy to return to this wonderful country,” the CEO said.
Dhlamini said Eswatini Air will thrive to contribute to the promotion of tourism. He said they have identified Harare as a gateway where they will connect Eswatini to the world through the use of other alternate routes which are Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg.
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“We are all about improving connectivity in the African continent,” said the CEO. Meanwhile, his counterpart in Zimbabwe, CEO of the Airports Company of Zimbabwe (PVT) LTD Tawanda Gusha said, “This is an important step towards enhancing connectivity in our country and promoting tourism and business opportunities in this region. These services couldn’t have come at a better moment than this one. Our airport expansion program which is 97 per cent complete has been done with anticipation of business growth”.
Gusha urged all stakeholders of the two countries to work together to ensure the success of the new partnership.
“To celebrate a new service is one thing but our job starts now, our job is to ensure we fill up this plane and ensure the survival of this route. Aviation growth has a positive impact on tourism and trade notwithstanding downstream activities to the rest of the economic sectors,” he highlighted.
