Newly introduced fast jet flights between Zimbabwe and Botswana are expected to boost tourism in both countries.
The new flights announced last Friday by fastjet follow another launch in March of a direct flight between Victoria Falls and Mpumalanga, in South Africa.
The fast jet flights between Maun in Botswana and Victoria Falls will be available on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays on an Embraer ER145 aircraft.
At the launch last Friday, fastjet Zimbabwe spokesperson Nunurai Ndawana said: “We are thrilled to launch a scheduled service to Maun in Botswana from our ever-growing Victoria Falls tourism hub. We continue to strengthen Victoria Falls as a regional tourism hub and the introduction of this new flight service four times a week will connect two of southern Africa’s most sought-after destinations, the Victoria Falls and the Okavango Delta, with a reliable scheduled air service.”
Botswana Civil Aviation Authority chief executive officer Bao Mosinyi also said: “Throughout the world, travel had gone down. The 96% drop was the general activity throughout the country. Three of the airlines that we had flying into the country are not coming back to the country. We needed a boost with international airlines starting to come in, and today we got the boost of what we needed. There is a lot that happens in this region, and this will help boost tourism in all countries.”
Fastjet is an African low cost airline in Zimbabwe. The airline is based at Robert Gabriel Mugabe Airport (HRE), Harare and flies to a small number of destinations throughout Zimbabwe and to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Fastjet was split into three different subsidiaries, Fastjet Tanzania, Fastjet Mozambique and Fastjet Zimbabwe. Originally, the airline flew to several destinations across these three countries.
However, in 2018, Fastjet ceased operations with Fastjet Tanzania and in 2019, ceased operations in Fastjet Mozambique. This has left Fastjet Zimbabwe as the remaining airline.
