Emirates adds third Harare flight

On October 1 the Government decided to re-open the country’s skies to commercial airlines. This resulted in a number of airlines, including Emirates, resuming flights into the country. The Herald Finance & Business  (HF B) spoke to the airline’s country manager, Nasser Bahlooq (NB), about their operations and what the airline’s return means to the country.

HF&B. How has business been since the resumption of flights on the Dubai-Harare route?

1. Emirates resumed flights to Harare on October 1. We are happy with the opening up of the country’s airspace and borders and the opportunities that follow. As Dubai and the rest of the world opens up, we are confident that both business and leisure travel will continue to regain its footing amid Covid-19 with strict guidance from health authorities.We started flying twice a week; Thursdays/Fridays and Sundays/Mondays. We are pleased to announce that we will be adding a third flight every Friday/Saturday from November 6 (last Friday).

HF&B.  Given the fact that Zimbabwe has been virtually on lockdown since March, what impact will the return of Emirates have on Zimbabwe’s economy?

1. NB.  Emirates’ return to Harare will enable Zimbabwean travellers, businesspeople and trades to connect to the world again and support the recovery of the country’s economy.  It also brings travellers back to Zimbabwe to discover this beautiful country, which is will enable the tourism industry, and businesses alike, to restart and provide hope for the economic recovery process.

HF&B. Covid-19 has brought about increased awareness of health issues, how have you been tackling these as an airline?

1. Peace of mind and the safety of travellers, visitors, and the community is of utmost importance to Emirates, and we have put a number of measures in place to instill travel confidence with customers.

This includes the distribution of complimentary hygiene kits containing masks, gloves, hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes to all customers, a personal protective equipment to all our boarding staff, enhanced cleaning onboard to reduce the risks of infection, in addition to the advanced HEPA air filters that cleanse the air throughout the flight, as they remove 99.97 percent of viruses and eliminate dust, allergens and germs from the cabin air for a healthier and safer on-board environment. After each journey and on landing in Dubai, each aircraft goes through enhanced cleaning and disinfection processes to ensure safety and proper sanitation.

HF&B. What kind of impact has Covid-19 had on your numbers given that people have contracted the virus while travelling?

1. Covid-19 has created a state of play in the industry that is unprecedented in scale, plunging many airlines across the globe into unchartered territory. Even as many borders begin reopening, much remains uncertain as travel restrictions continue to be lifted and re-imposed, and even with government intervention playing a significant role in the recovery of many airlines, many airlines in a post-Covid world will look very different.

The pandemic is far from over but we are all learning to cope with it – whether at a country level, within businesses and industries, or in our individual lives. As the world adjusts to the next phase of the pandemic, Emirates is optimistic that this will bring some stability for travel demand to return and economies to begin recovering.

HF&B.What is your load factor at the moment?

NB.We resumed operations to Harare more than two weeks ago with a twice weekly linked service with Lusaka. Passenger demand is progressing positively and we are pleased to say that we will be adding a third weekly flight, which is a testament to the healthy demand we are seeing on our flights out of Harare.

HF&B.Have you returned to full operations yet?

1. Right now, our focus is restoring our network to its pre-Covid levels. A large part of this has been restoring our African network, and we are proud of where we are today. As of the beginning of October, we’re now operating 20 African passenger destinations- that’s over 90 percent of our pre-Covid-19 African network. Of course, we still have a lot of work to do to restore frequencies in many of our markets, including Zimbabwe, but we are seeing encouraging signs of passenger demand, and we hope to layer on more frequencies in the months ahead to ensure we provide our customers an enhanced schedule and connectivity to popular passenger destinations through our hub, Dubai.

HF&B. What assurances are you giving your passengers travelling on your planes?

1. Emirates has committed to cover Covid-19 related medical expenses, free of cost, should they be diagnosed with Covid-19 during their travel while they are away from home. This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until 31 December 2020 and is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey. This means Emirates customers can continue to benefit from the added assurance of this cover, even if they travel onwards to another city after arriving at their Emirates destination.