Lightning strike disables Bulawayo airport

Air Zimbabwe flights into and out of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo were cancelled on Tuesday night after the Traffic Control Tower was struck by lightning resulting in a blackout.

An Air Zimbabwe plane that was supposed to land at the airport from Harare and was supposed to return the same night to the capital, failed to land.

Flights into and out of the airport resumed yesterday after technicians at the airport attended to the fault.

The airport Manager Mr Edmore Murungweni said the technical fault was caused by lightning.

"A bolt of lightning struck at around 6PM yesterday and this affected our runway lights. Matabeleland has been going through some adverse weather conditions and such weather tends to take a toll on equipment at times," said Mr Murungweni.

He said technicians tried to work on the problem on Tuesday but failed to fix the problem until yesterday morning.

"For the safety of the passengers, the plane from Harare aborted landing and as a result there was no flight to Harare on Tuesday night.

"A plane cannot land on an unlit runway as doing so puts the lives of passengers at risk," he said.

Mr Murungweni said the situation was back to normal and all facilities were now fully operational.

"Our teams worked round the clock and all is in order now. All operations have resumed and I would like to urge all potential travellers to go ahead and book their flights as we have managed to rectify the problem," said Mr Murungweni.

He described the incident as a natural disaster which was beyond human control.

Mr Murungweni said the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe had done all within its powers to ensure passenger safety and to fix the problem.

Passengers who were supposed to fly to Harare on Tuesday night were booked at a city hotel for the night.

Passengers who were supposed to land in Bulawayo but forced to return to Harare were also booked at a hotel in the capital.