The Glory Days

Originally known as Air Rhodesia, Air Zimbabwe was formed in April 1980, the same year Zimbabwe gained its independence.  Below are a few facts about Air Zimbabwe in its early years of operation.

              The Rise

• 1982: Air Zimbabwe became the first Southern African country to be connected to Australia. Qantas in collaboration with Air Zimbabwe offered flights from Harare to Sydney via Perth on-board a B747.
• 1983: Air Zimbabwe became a member state of The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and started flights to Gaborone, Lilongwe, Lusaka and Nairobi.
• 1987: The year-end of 1987 Air Zimbabwe’s fleet had grown and now consisted of five boeing 707-320Bs, seven viscounts 700, three 737-200s and one BAe 146-200.
• 1989: The first of two boeing 767-200ERS was delivered.
• 1990: Second boeing 767-200ERS was delivered.

In the early 1990s Air Zimbabwe had an extensive route network which covered many destinations including;

• Domestic: Harare to Buffalo Range, Bulawayo, Gweru, Hwange, Kariba, Masvingo and Victoria Falls.
• Regional: Harare to Blantyre, Durban, Gaborone, Johannesburg, Lusaka, Lilongwe, Windhoek, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Manzini, Maputo, Mauritius.
• Intercontinental: Harare to Athens, Frankfurt and London, UAE, Sydney via Perth. In 2004 flights to Beijing commenced and later in 2009 flights to Kulua Lumpur started.