Zimbabwe recorded a 42% drop in the number of flights during the first quarter of this year, totaling 11,400 flights compared to 19,600 in the previous quarter, according to data released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat).
According to the agency, both domestic and international flights declined in February, although there was a recovery in March. International flights rose from 2,200 to 2,522, while domestic flights increased from 1,221 to 1,762.
“A total of 11,400 flights was recorded in the first quarter of the current year, marking a 41.9% reduction compared to the 19,600 registered in the previous quarter,” the agency reported. This decline also impacted passenger transport, which fell by 19.5%, from 622,700 to 501,300. ZimStat also indicated that all airports in the country experienced a decrease in flight activity during this period.
Air cargo transport also saw a 38.8% drop, with volumes falling from 4,851 tonnes in the last quarter of 2024 to 2,968 tonnes in the first quarter of this year.
Airfreight imports declined by 58.1%, while exports decreased by 17.3%. Rail transport also registered a drop during the same period. According to ZimStat, the volume of goods transported by rail fell by 35.9%. The steepest declines occurred in the agricultural sector (86.7%) and the industrial sector (1.7%), with the energy and mining sector seeing a 5.8% decrease.
“There were 58 railway accidents recorded in the first quarter of 2025, representing a 51.7% drop from the 120 reported in the previous quarter. However, accidents on main lines rose by 66.7%, increasing from 21 to 35,” the agency stated.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube announced that the tourism growth forecast for 2025 has been revised downward from 4.3% to 2.9%, due to the poor performance of the aviation sector in 2024 and early this year.
Source: The Herald
