Air Zimbabwe proposes regional Southern Africa hub for Harare: part one – years of struggles

The state airline and national carrier of a country once regarded as 'the bread basket of Africa' became a basket case itself over the past decades. But it has shed of much of its debt now, and with new management at the helm Air Zimbabwe is at last looking to the future instead of over its shoulder.

Its new chairperson has ambitious plans - well, ambitious by its own standards, at least. One is, in conjunction with Harare Airport, to establish a regional hub and spoke operation for Southern Africa.

It helps that South African Airways, the dominant airline in the region, has also had a hard time of it lately. Also that tourists are increasingly attracted to nature - which is in abundance - over beaches.

But it will require progressive, modern thinking; certainly a new fleet (not necessarily a big one); carefully selected routes; well thought-out pricing strategies and some further cash injection to make what its chairperson calls 'a mammoth task' surmountable.

This is part one of a two-part report.