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Freeman Razemba-Senior Reporter
Botswana charter airline, Mack Air has partnered with the country’s South West Aviation to offer new flight services across Zimbabwe and throughout the southern African region, a move aimed at boosting the tourism industry.
South West Aviation was established with a vision to provide a first class air charter service in Zimbabwe’s rapidly growing tourism and business industries while Mack Air is an Air Charter airline based in Maun, Botswana.
The company has been operating in northern Botswana since 1994.
Mack Air managing director, Mr Michael Weyl said the company has set up hubs in Harare and Victoria Falls that will service all domestic destinations and safari camps in Zimbabwe.
He said when regional flights are launched next year, the Victoria Falls hub will serve tourist destinations in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zambia while the Harare hub will serve the Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique markets.
“South West Aviation shares our passion, values and ambition. We are extremely confident that, together, we will exceed our customers’ ever-expanding travel needs,” Mr Weyl said.
The first Cessna Grand Caravan EX, positioned in Zimbabwe, is currently operational, and the airline expects to expand the fleet by March to an additional five aircraft, which will result in the partnership operating a fleet of six aircraft for the 2023 season in Zimbabwe.
Airfares will initially be offered exclusively out of the Victoria Falls hub for the Hwange area.
However, as demand increases, the airline hopes to introduce airfares throughout the region.
This development comes after South African Airways (SAA) is set to resume flights on at least four of its old routes, including Victoria Falls, before the festive season in what it announces as a show of confidence in the
Zimbabwean tourism industry and the aviation market by foreign airlines and the international community.
The four resumed SAA destinations are Victoria Falls, Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi, and Windhoek in Namibia.
Recently, Ethiopian Airlines successfully operated their inaugural flight to Bulawayo, becoming the third destination in Zimbabwe that the airline operates into after Harare and Victoria Falls.
Another airline, FlySafair also announced that it had received approval to operate flights to 11 new destinations within Southern Africa, following a meeting of the Air Services Licensing Council of South Africa (ASLC).
The ASLC approved FlySafair’s application to operate flights from Cape Town and Johannesburg to Gaborone, Livingstone, Luanda, Lusaka, Maputo, and Victoria Falls.
Online Reporter