The government plans to build provincial airports, with the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) having been tasked with overseeing the project.
This was revealed by Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza currently touring new road projects across the country following the release of funds by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara). Speaking during his tour of Tanganda-Ngundu Highway on Thursday, Matiza said:
The government has begun the process of constructing airports in the province as we move to reinforce the open for business mantra as well as the implementation of the devolution process. We need the roads, we need the airports
The potential in the provinces is very high. As a ministry, we are cognizant of this fact and we would want to see that the economy grows through the contribution of upgrading and building new infrastructure.
Currently, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe is carrying out feasibility studies for the construction of these airports.
Very expensive and ambitious considering the current state of finances, so I will take this news report ‘with a pinch of salt’. There are already airports in most of the provinces, albeit since the downturn in tourism and farming, and the virtual collapse of Air Zimbabwe some are not in regular use. Airports exist in Harare, Bulawayo, Victoria Falls, Hwange, Kariba, Buffalo Range and there used to be regular scheduled daily/weekly Air Zimbabwe flights to all. There is also Charles Prince in Harare. There is no major airport in Manicaland to serve Mutare, nor is there one in Gweru, unless you convert Thornhill to commercial use, nor Masvingo. In my opinion the only provinces that might need an Airport are Midlands (Gweru), Manicaland (Mutare), and Masvingo (Masvingo/Great Zimbabwe). Of these the most isolated is Mutare, but given the state of finances nothing will be happening here for many many years. Gweru is not that far from Bulawayo by road.
My memory not what it was. I was a Traffic Officer with my beloved Air Zimbabwe. I used to dispatch flights to all provinces except Manicaland which was a grass strip. We did service GWE & FTV back in the day.
Something of an insult to our people when another headline states that many Zimbabweans are being reduced to eating just one meal a day. How long until our citizens begin to resemble emaciated refugees from the days of war torn Biafra?
I really think we don’t need Airports in this kind of economy,that money can be Chanelled elsewhere..