Zimbabwe to commission renovated Victoria Falls Airport in November

Zimbabwe is set to commission the Victoria Falls International Airport, which has just finished renovation, in November, a government official said Friday.

The government had initially set the commissioning for May but failed to meet the deadline due to delays in construction.

Speaking at a budget meeting for a parliamentary committee on transport, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development Munesu Munodawafa said the expansion of the airport had now been completed.

Work to upgrade and expand the airport by China Jiangsu International began in 2013 and was financed through a-150-million-U.S.-dollars loan from the Export-Import Bank of China.

The renovation and expansion project will increase the airport's passenger handling capacity to 2 million per year, up from 500,000.

Part of the airport infrastructure, including the new international terminal building, runway and control tower, became operational in December 2015.

The project was done in two phases. The first phase involved the construction of a new terminal building, a 4-km runway, conversion of existing 2.2-km runway into a taxi way and construction of a road network and a car park.

A new fire station and control tower was also constructed under the first phase.

The second phase involved renovation, upgrading and conversion of the old terminal building into a fully-fledged domestic terminal.

After upgrading and expansion, the airport is expected to attract more airlines from the world and bring closer to tourists Zimbabwe's prime tourist destination -- the famed Victoria Falls. Endit