All set for Ethiopian Airlines maiden flight to Bulawayo

ONE of the world's top airlines, Ethiopian Airlines is set to introduce flights that will fly into Bulawayo for the first-time, end of this month, a development that will boost the tourism sector as well as ease international travels.

The airline which already flies into Zimbabwe through Harare and Victoria Falls, is set to provide four times weekly services from Addis Ababa to Bulawayo through Victoria Falls from October 30, 2022. In an interview, Ethiopian Airlines sales representative, Ms Fungai Ndoro said they have established their offices in Bulawayo.

"Effective 30 October 2022 Ethiopian Airlines is going to be operating its first direct international flight into Bulawayo. So, you can now fly from anywhere in the world across our entire network into Bulawayo directly.

"We will have an office by the Bathroom Boutique complex and also another office at the airport for the convenience of our customers. This will be a development that will be good for the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province community," said Ms Ndoro.

She said the flights will originate from Ethiopian Airlines' Addis Ababa hub, where travellers can connect to popular destinations such as Nairobi, London, Manchester, New York, Washington D.C, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Paris.

"Ms Ndoro said making Bulawayo its third destination in Zimbabwe was a response to demand.

"We are really excited about the Bulawayo service which will be groundbreaking. This will be great for the people of Bulawayo because they will no longer have to fly into Harare and drive to Bulawayo but they can now fly directly into the city from wherever.

"This will also be good especially if there are traders and business persons in Bulawayo they can now transport their cargo also directly into the city. It will be cheaper as well for them because they will not have costs of having to transport their cargo to Harare and then now having to move their goods by road to Bulawayo. Their cargo can come directly from Dar es Salaam, Dubai, China or Turkey among others direct into Bulawayo," she said.

Airports Company of Zimbabwe (ACZ) public relations officer Mr Tonderai Mangombe said this was a good sign to show that Zimbabwean skies were now open. He said the growing interest in the country by foreign airlines was attributed to improved aviation infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian Airlines was the official carrier for the international buyers and journalists who attended this year's Sanganai/Hlanganani World Tourism Expo, after they entered into a partnership with Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).

It catered for foreign inbound visitors who came for the tourism expo, flying from Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom via Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital to Joshua Mqabuko International Airport.

ZTA welcomed the development and called it an affirmation of the continued growth of the expo and the organisation's reach in the tourism industry.