In a big blow to Zimbabwe, the British Airways (BA) has decided to stop its flights from UK to the southern African nation next month due to increasing losses on the route in the wake of Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis under the leadership of current president Robert Mugabe.
In a statement, the British Airways has confirmed that its flights between Harare and London would stop on October 28. This has further deepened Zimbabwe’s international isolation.
Steve Harrison, British Airways commercial manager for southern Africa expressed,
The economic situation in Zimbabwe has contributed to a decline in market demand. The withdrawal of Harare flights is for commercial reasons as it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify our operation.
With this assertion, British Airways has joined with other leading airlines such as Qantas, Air France/KLM and TAP Portugal to pullout its flights from the troubled southern African country.
Zimbabwe is facing acute shortage of fuel which has led foreign airlines to bring in fuel by road and refuel its planes in neighboring countries.
Under Robert Mugabe’s leadership, the economy of Zimbabwe declined from one of the strongest in Africa to one of the weakest. Inflation has increased by 7,000 percent with industrial sector is in a precarious state and agricultural output is steadily falling.
