Russia, Zimbabwe discussing direct flights – Envoy

By Agencies

Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency is discussing with Zimbabwean authorities to establish direct flights between Moscow and Harare, according to reports monitored here on Thursday.

Moscow’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Nikolai Krasilnikov told Russian daily Izvestia that there “good prospects” that there would soon be direct flights between the two countries.

“There are contacts on this topic through the Federal Air Transport Agency and the Zimbabwe Civil Aviation Authority and, accordingly, through the Ministry of Transport,” Krasilnikov is quoted as saying.

He added: “The prospects are good, but it is premature to talk about timing. We need to finalise some more documents.”

He said the introduction of direct flights would go a long way in boosting the number of Russians visiting Zimbabwe and vice versa.

According to him, flights could help increase the popularity of Zimbabwe among Russian tourists.

He revealed that several Russian companies are interested in the Zimbabwean market as investors or suppliers of finished products.

Meanwhile, Krasilnikov did not rule out the possibility of Zimbabwe becoming the venue for one of the next Russia-Africa summits.

“It is quite possible, because Zimbabwe is showing increased interest in partnership in the Russia-Africa format. Zimbabwe has the potential to host such an event,” he told the state-run newspaper.

Russia-Africa summits are annual gatherings of Russian and African leaders since 2019 where they discuss initiatives to strengthen comprehensive and equal cooperation between Russia and African nations across all sectors.