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Minister Joram Gumbo

Bianca Mlilo, Business Reporter
THE new-look Victoria Falls International Airport will be commissioned this month with $150 million upgrade works nearing completion, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Joram Gumbo, has said.

Giving an update on projects undertaken by parastatals under his ministry in Bulawayo last week, Gumbo said the development of the aviation industry was critical in making the country an investment and tourism destination of choice.

“The upgrade of the Victoria Falls International Airport is almost complete and is scheduled for commissioning end of May 2016,” said the minister.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe initiated the facelift in February 2013 to boost the airport’s aircraft handling capacity. The first phase of the expansion project entailed construction of a new terminal building, four kilometre runway, conversion of the existing 2,2 kilometre runway into a taxi way and construction of a road network and a car park. Work is being finalised on the construction of a fire station which will handle four trucks and a new terminal building. The airport, when complete, is expected to receive 1,5 million passengers per annum, a figure treble the 500,000 handling capacity the airport enjoys now.

It will also accommodate wide-bodied aircraft such as B747, B777 and A380.

Gumbo expressed concern over the state of Air Zimbabwe, which he said was not operating optimally due to aged equipment and a crippling debt among other constraints.

“It’s our wish that Air Zimbabwe regains its premium status as an airline of preference characterised by schedule integrity,” he said.

“Efforts are currently underway aimed at restoring the airline to its former status. The ministry is acutely aware of the strategic importance of the national airline in respect of promotion of tourism and economic development in general.”

Gumbo said provision of appropriate infrastructure to communities was one of the key mandates of the ministry, adding that poorly designed and maintained physical infrastructure has hampered growth and raised transaction costs in many developing countries.

The Minister is on record as saying after completion of the Victoria Falls International Airport, government intends to upgrade the Joshua Nkomo International Airport in the second largest city of Bulawayo and Harare International Airport in the capital.