Egyptian airliner dumps Zim route

EGYPTAIRCharity Ruzvidzo Business Reporter
EGYPTIAN airline, Egyptair, has announced service withdrawal end of next month after plying the Harare-Dar es Salaam-Cairo route for a year, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) boss Karikoga Kaseke said yesterday.
Egyptair resumed operations in the country last year after nine years of absence.
The airline operated four times weekly return flights to Harare. It left Cairo on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays via Dar-es-Salaam returning to Harare on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays on the same route.

Kaseke said the withdrawal was regrettable as it reduced travellers’ confidence.
“Tourists tend to lose confidence in us as a tourism destination when they see airlines withdrawing. The most important aspect is to create confidence in our tourists for them to view us as a nation worth visiting,” he told Business Chronicle.

The ZTA chief executive officer said his authority was making efforts to try and curb withdrawal flights after resuming operations in the country.

“We’ve engaged the ambassador of Egypt in Zimbabwe with requests to stop the withdrawal. He is a very understanding man. I might have to fly to Egypt to further the discussions,” he said.

“With regards to tourists the flight brings into the nation, the numbers are very few. Frequent users of the flight are local Zimbabweans travelling back home from Egypt.”

Kaseke said the Harare-Johannesburg route was the most used route by tourists visiting the country.
“The Harare –Johannesburg route is by far the best route with regards to tourism .Tourists from different nations travel to South Africa then connect to Harare from Johannesburg,” he said.

Egyptair’s withdrawal comes hardly a month after KLM Royal Dutch Airlines shocked the market with an announcement of discontinuing direct flights to Harare in October.

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