HARARE, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe has registered an increasing number of arrivals at its main airport here since the resumption of international flights at the beginning of this month.
The airlines landing at the airport had recorded a load factor of 30 percent, with some regional flights carrying full loads, Director of Airport Services at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport Tawanda Gusha said Monday.
"From Oct. 1 what we have experienced is a 30 percent load factor on the airlines that have come back to operate here," Gusha said.
"The numbers have been very encouraging especially when you look at the Harare-Johannesburg route. Fastjet has full loads on its two daily flights," he added.
Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenyan Airways, South African Airlink and Fastjet are some of the airlines that have resumed international flights into Zimbabwe since Oct. 1.
Meanwhile, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the Zimbabwean government attaches great importance to the safety of passengers and airline crews in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said all travelers and baggage entering the airport terminal are disinfected.
"Our airports are fully equipped to make sure that we contain the spread of COVID-19. We have got a disinfectant at the terminal entry. We are restricting entry to only travelers and staff," said Mutsvangwa.
"We have also installed sanitizing stations throughout the terminal public areas so that at any given time the public does not have to look for sanitizers," Mutsvangwa said after touring the airport.
Zimbabwe reopened its airports to international flights on Oct. 1 after a six-month suspension due to the pandemic.
As of Sunday, the country had recorded 8,011 COVID-19 cases with 6,504 recoveries and 230 deaths. Enditem
