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Business Reporter

BULAWAYO will tomorrow host the national commemorations to mark 100 years since the first flight landed in the country — in the City of Kings in 1920.

The event, which is being organised by the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) in collaboration with the Bulawayo Publicity Association, will be held at the Ascot Race Course. The NMMZ associate researcher, Mr Rob Barret, who is also a historian, confirmed the event.

“We are celebrating the centenary anniversary of the landing of the first flight into the country and 100 years is usually recognised as a particularly important historical event,” he said.

Mr Barret said the first flight landed on the 5th of March 1920 on what is Ascot Race Course in Bulawayo. There was no airstrip at that time.

The aircraft, which is commonly known as the Silver Queen II, was a twin-engined wooden bi-plane.

Mr Barret said the plane from London had four people on board — the pilot, a co-pilot and two mechanics.

“Basically, what we are celebrating isn’t just this plane, we are celebrating 100 years of the flight landing in Zimbabwe. Today, aeroplanes are common but you can imagine those days, this was a very exciting moment,” he said.

Mr Barret said the aircraft was supposed to be the first flight from London to Cape Town but it came to Bulawayo via Livingstone in Zambia, and before taking off at the Ascot Race Course enroute to South Africa on 6 March 1920, it crashed.

“The plane didn’t actually leave Bulawayo on the 6th when it was taking off, it crashed so it’s the first flight and the first crash in the country.

“It crashed very close to the memorial where we’ll be having our commemorations,” he said.

BPA director Mr Moreblessings Tshuma said the event was critical to the development of the tourism industry in the city as tour operators can include the memorial site on their itinerary.

“The commemorations marks a turning point to the addition of another tourism product. The product has been there but we haven’t been exploiting it, so the celebrations, going forward create a platform through which tour operators can include the memorial site on their itinerary for tourists visiting the city,” he said.