The Sunday News
LOW-COST airline, Fly Africa, is set to introduce the second of the five Boeing 737-500 aircraft they purchased from Czech airlines for operation in the country when the Ministry of Transport designates more routes for the operator, Sunday Business can reveal.
Fly Africa has two aircraft registered in the country and with the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) as Z-FAA and Z-FAB.
In an interview, executive chairman Professor Chakanyuka Karase, said the second aircraft which has undergone livery was released for service on Wednesday and would be made available as soon as the Zimbabwean pilots and cabin crew complete their training.
“Z-FAB was released for service after undergoing paintwork and will be introduced when the pilots and cabin crew finish their training for which they are currently undergoing through Lufthansa in Germany for the pilots and Flitedux in South Africa for the cabin crew.
“We are also waiting to be designated more routes by the Ministry of Transport for which we have already made our submissions to them for,” said Prof Karase.
Fly Africa introduced its first aircraft — Z-FAA — in August to service the Victoria Falls-Johannesburg route, flying three times a week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Prof Karase said they had since increased their frequency to four times a week to include Mondays and attributed the breaking of the 40 percent load factor average in just six weeks of flying to pricing.
The airline charges between $50 and $70 for a one way ticket between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg, excluding taxes and baggage, which are charged separately.
“We’re performing better than anticipated. Our pricing, on time performance and reliability has been a contributing factor of our breaking the 40 percent load factor average in just six weeks of flying.
“It is our hope that, given we have just renewed our Air Operators Certificate with the Caaz and begun the process of recruiting Zimbabweans in anticipation of launching more routes and introducing more aircraft, we can be accredited with furthering the Government’s efforts to develop Aviation and Tourism for the employment and financial beneficiation of Zimbabwe,” he said.
However, officials at Fly Africa could not be drawn into revealing which routes they were eyeing and had made submissions for although Sunday Business has it on good authority that they would soon introduce a Victoria Falls-Harare flight and Victoria Falls-Lusaka flight.
“To be fair, in reference to our traffic rights submissions, we want to observe protocol and let the various due processes take place before announcing or making a statement of our specific route expansion plans,” said Prof Karase.
The introduction of more airlines operating in the country to complement national carrier Air Zimbabwe, has been seen as a move in the right direction as it is likely to increase tourist arrivals and endorse Zimbabwe as a destination of choice.
The aviation industry has been identified as a key sector in economic growth and development.
