The Sunday Mail
SINCE a 20 000-strong crowd attended the Big African Air Show at Charles Prince Airport in September last year, there has been a growing appetite for air shows in Zimbabwe.
With the last show having been held in 1995, the Isaac Levy-organised event attracted a wide spectrum of people, from government officials to school going kids.
However, the game-changer in aviation seems to be Swiss Jet Aviation, an aviation development trust that is currently churning out aviation development programmes around the country.
“We grew up shouting ‘ndege ndege’ whenever a plane flew past and now we are trying to ensure that children have access to planes at an early stage,” said Honour Moyo, Swiss Jet Aviation director.
Moyo said they are inspired by the need to do away with the notion that flying is for the elite and to that effect, they have introduced flying clubs at primary schools.
The flying clubs are currently active at David Livingstone, Hatfield and Moffat primary schools, among others.
He said this is aimed at creating exposure as well as motivation, which leaves the students inspired to take up aviation as a career.
“In flying clubs we have small radio/remote controlled planes also called model/scale aeroplanes that we are using, flying these is almost the same as flying a Boeing 707.
“So you can imagine, a high school kid that how to fly a 707 has a lot of confidence and when they enrol in flying sector.” Established a few years ago, the company also has mouth-watering holidaying packages.
Among the holiday expeditions that the organisation provides is “Around Zimbabwe in Seven Days”, which sees holidaymakers travelling and staying in hotels around the country. “We have a mutual partnership with African Sun so holiday makers will be staying in their hotels while they are flown in helicopters around the country. This will go a long way in marketing our country as the great tourist destination that it is,” said Moyo. “While this appears to be deterrent money wise, it actually makes economic sense for a tourist who feels they want to see more of Zimbabwe in less time. There certainly is more to see in Zimbabwe than Victoria Falls and imagine getting to experience that together with the Nyangani Mountains as well as the Great Zimbabwe in the shortest time possible. It would be much more expensive to experience the same using commercial flights.”
Other packages include the V2 Excursion that entails people spending the whole day at a resort of their choice and flying back on the same day. Moyo said this cuts across the spectrum as it is suitable for organisations as well as families. For instance, a family in Harare would have to drive in the morning and leave their car parked at Holiday Inn before being driven in a limo to a private helipad. From there they are flown to the resort area of the choice where they spend the whole day enjoying the different activities offered in their packages. After that they are flown back to Holiday Inn for their dinner before they go home.
“This is perfect for bonding in both the corporate and social spheres,” said Moyo.
“The world is increasingly faster and we do not have as much time as we think we have. So when you cannot drive to Hwange because of the time it takes, you just fly to and from.” The organisation also runs a programme for weddings where the bride and groom are flown in and out of the wedding venue. Moyo said although the country does not have legislation for drones, they are working to engage the Government so that legislation is crafted.
“UAVs are the in thing now and we already have them just that we are waiting for the legislation. “They are used in several ways and they make people’s lives a lot more exciting. “For instance, where you have someone driving around for a traffic report, a drone can do that,” he said.
