Emirates offers hope to horticulture producers
Sunday, 05 February 2012 11:58
BY NDAMU SANDU
EMIRATES, one of the world’s leading airlines, says there is an opportunity
for Zimbabwean horticultural producers to reach out to the world by using
its global network.
Emirates’ inaugural flight to Zimbabwe via Zambia landed on Wednesday,
becoming the first airline from the Middle East to fly into the country.
It will fly into the country five times a week. Duncan Watson, regional
manager, cargo commercial operations, told journalists on Thursday he held
meetings with producers on how they could reach a wider market for their
produce.
“There is a wonderful opportunity for growers here to demonstrate Zimbabwean
produce can reach so many destinations in the world,” Watson said.
“We hope to be carrying flowers and vegetables to new markets in the Middle
East, China and Europe.”
The plane has a cargo carrying capacity of 15 tonnes, which will be shared
between Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Jean-Luc Grillet, the airline’s senior vice-president, commercial
operations, Africa, said the response from the market had been good and
Emirates would be flying daily into Zimbabwe by October, buoyed by the
strong response in both Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The inaugural flight had an 80% load on the 256-passenger plane. Tourism and
Hospitality minister Walter Mzembi said he hoped going “forward, we will be
able to increase the internal access, so that when Emirates offloads in
Harare, we can connect to our various tourist destinations”.
Zimbabwe has been battling to lure tourists because it has not been an
easily accessible destination due to the limited number of direct flights
into the country.
This has made it very difficult to market the country as a favourable
destination for tourists. Accessibility alongside attraction, accommodation
and advertising are regarded as the 4As of destination marketing.
Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development minister Nichiolas
Goche told Standardbusiness his ministry had received inquiries from a
number of leading airlines such as Qatar and Hong Kong Airlines.
He said the ministry had shot down the proposal of German carrier Lufthansa
that wanted to fly into Zimbabwe via code-sharing with Ethiopian Airlines.
A code-share is an arrangement whereby an airline sells seats, under its own
name, on another carrier’s flight.
“When Lufthansa came to see us, their story was that they wanted to
code-share with Ethiopian Airlines. In other words, they wanted Ethiopian
Airlines to increase its flights here. We said no, you can come directly as
Lufthansa, in the same way that you used to come here,” Goche said.