Online Reporter
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
THE successful relaunch of the Air Zimbabwe Harare-London route shows the fruits of the Second Republic’s deliberate and sustained re-engagement agenda, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona has said.
On arrival in the return flight after the successful relaunch, Minister Mhona hailed foreign policy consistency and conviction by President Mnangagwa, who is spearheading the country’s re-engagement policy.
Last Wednesday, Air Zimbabwe relaunched the route, ending a 16-year absence of a direct air link between the two destinations.
Minister Mhona hailed the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority for its rigorous and impartial approval process that culminated in Air Zimbabwe being granted a foreign operator permit, saying the national carrier earned the certification on merit and is committed to maintaining those standards.
Addressing guests last Thursday at a welcome dinner held at The Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch, London, to celebrate the inaugural Harare-London Gatwick service, Minister Mhona said the restored route represents one of the clearest expressions of Zimbabwe’s re-engagement policy.
This would strengthen trade, investment, tourism and people-to-people ties between Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe.
Minister Mhona urged Zimbabweans living in the UK, British investors and the wider business community to embrace the route, describing it as a strategic link that reconnects Zimbabwe with the world.
He said the inaugural flight, which landed at Gatwick Airport at 8.10am, carried more than passengers.
“It carried renewed friendship, restored confidence and reciprocal opportunity,” Minister Mhona said.
He attributed the return of direct flights to the Second Republic’s deliberate re-engagement agenda under President Mnangagwa.
“This occasion is the fruit of the Second Republic’s deliberate and sustained re-engagement agenda, a foreign policy posture led with consistency and conviction by President Mnangagwa.
“His Excellency has declared, and demonstrated through action, that Zimbabwe is a friend to all and an enemy to none,” Minister Mhona
