COVID-19: Zimbabwe resumes domestic, regional flights

Zimbabwe's state-owned Air Zimbabwe announced Wednesday it will resume domestic and regional commercial flights later this month after the government decided to re-open the country's skies following coronavirus lockdowns, local media reported.

"Sales offices are now open for bookings and ticketing. Clients are now encouraged to follow COVID-19 prevention protocols whenever they visit our offices," said airline spokeswoman Firstme Vitori, according to Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

The domestic flight schedule will feature the Harare-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls-Harare morning flight as well as Harare-Victoria Falls-Bulawayo-Harare evening flight three times weekly beginning Sept. 23.

Regional flights will resume Oct. 3 and Harare-Dar-es-Salam route is scheduled to operate every Saturday and Tuesday.

Fastjet Zimbabwe also confirmed the resumption of domestic commercial flights on Sept. 21.

It will operate the Harare-Bulawayo route three times per week and the Harare-Victoria Falls service twice weekly.

Flights to Johannesburg will be based on the opening of the South African airspace.

In a relevant development, Ethiopian Airlines announced the resumption of commercial flights to Victoria Falls starting Oct. 6.

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced a suspension of flights into and out of Zimbabwe in late March as a part of restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.