Airport at par with international standards

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke, Harare Bureau

THE completion of the expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport is evidence that the Second Republic is walking the talk in modernising and industrialising the country for the achievement of Vision 2030, President Mnangagwa said yesterday.

Speaking during a familiarisation tour of the revamped airport ahead of its official opening next week, President Mnangagwa described the new airport as magnificent.

“This is not my first time to come around but after completion, this (airport) is magnificent. It is important that we walk our talk. We are saying we want to modernise our country, we want to industrialise our country and this is evidence of modernising the facilities in our country,” he said.

He said the new airport compared favourably with the rest of the airports in the region.

The RGM International Airport Expansion started in 2018 and is one of the Government’s signature projects run by Airport Company of Zimbabwe.

Following the expansion, the airport now meets the international standards that attract more airlines, passengers and more tourists.

“I think we can stand with our heads up and say we have an international airport in Harare and we don’t feel inferior. In fact, I believe that for the next 50 years, it will still be quite modern. As I was going around, I was thinking about the airports that I have travelled through in Europe and I see that we are ahead and most countries now will come and see what Zimbabwe is doing under sanctions,” said the President.

The expansion was done by China Jiangsu International as contractors and will see the airport increasing its capacity from slightly above one million passengers per year to six million.

Besides the development of the VIP pavilion, gyms, salons, coffee bars and children’s playing centres were installed. More sets of luggage handling equipment and 14 more check-in counters for departures were also installed at the airport.

The expansion included the construction of two more new aprons to accommodate four aero bridges that were installed, one of which is at the domestic terminal site. This ensures that the airport accommodates more planes with the international terminal now accommodating seven aircraft at a time. The expansion also enables expansion of cargo in and out of the country.

Airports Company of Zimbabwe chairman Mr Devnanda Popatlal said the new airport was going to make an impact on the drive by the Second Republic to industrialise the economy.

“Today is a great day. We are going to put into practice the vision of His Excellency, President Mnangagwa. It’s a great day in the history of aviation of Zimbabwe and for the people of Zimbabwe. This is following the mantra of ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’,” he said.

He said the airport expansion was a positive in showing the world the development being achieved in the country.

The airport was the face of the country for many as their port of entry.

“The actual capacity was 1,3 million passengers per year and now we are equipped to handle 6,7 million passengers per year. This will mean international airlines will be encouraged to fly heavy capacity airplanes into Zimbabwe. We already have Qatar and Emirates operating here which have the carrying capacity of 300 people on each flight,” he said.

Travellers who spoke to The Herald expressed their excitement at the new state of the art airport.

Said Ms Aqueline Haisoswi from Budiriro: “This airport is so beautiful. It is nothing like we are used to. I actually had to pinch myself to see if I was still in Zimbabwe. We are now ahead in terms of development and we want to thank President Mnangagwa for making this happen.”

Another traveller, Ms Abigail Munjaranji from Wedza also expressed her satisfaction with the new airport.

“This is lovely. We are thankful to the Government for working to develop our country. I have seen the airports in South Africa and Mozambique and I believe we now can compare our airports with them. I have also been to Beitbridge Border Post and I saw development that was made there and it’s are excellent. We are grateful, this is good for us as Zimbabweans,” she said.