A new domestic air carrier hopes to launch flights in Zimbabwe before the end of this year as it reaches the final stages in the completion of its pre-application service package to gain a service permit from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe. The start-up, Just Fly, intends to begin operations to two internal markets from the capital, Harare, using an 8-seater Piper or King Air aircraft.

In an exclusive interview with The HUB Daily on the sidelines of this year’s Routes Africa forum in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Brian Mbiriri, director, Just Fly, confirmed that he anticipated this first stage of the application process could be completed within a matter of weeks.

“We are at the pre-application stage right now but expect to finish the documentation and present this to the authorities in the next couple of weeks to gain our service permit. Subject to the response we will then decide on a timescale to make a formal application for our Air Operators Certificate (AOC),” he explained.

The executive is confident that the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe will make an initial ruling on its application within a four week window, and with a similar timescale expected should it apply for its AOC, the start-up could be in a position to launch operations as early as mid-September 2014.

According to Mbiriri, Just Fly plans to initially serve two domestic markets on a scheduled basis offering around three flights per week. These comprise links from Harare to Chiriedzi and Beit Bridge, both destinations which have not previously been regularly served from Harare on a scheduled basis.

Chiriedzi is a small town in Masvingo province in south-east Zimbabwe near the Runde River. Together with its sister town of Triangle, it is the major centre of sugar production in the country. It is served by a small international airport at Buffalo Range, which was last served from the capital city on a scheduled basis by Air Zimbabwe with a short-lived weekly flight from November 2007 to January 2008 using a Chinese-built Xian MA60 turboprop.

Meanwhile, Beit Bridge, or Mzingwane as it is also known, is a border town in the province of Matabeleland South, close to Zimbabwe’s border with South Africa, the busiest road border post in southern Africa. An agreement was reached this week by Zimbabwe and South Africa to split revenue from traffic over the Limpopo Bridge following the expiry of the 20-year long build, operate and transfer agreement signed with New Limpopo Bridge, the company that built the bridge in 1994.