"US$81m Harare Airport Gathers Dust"

Thursday, February 13, 2003

US$81m Harare Airport Gathers Dust
Zimbabwe - The Financial Gazette


Harare, ABOUT a dozen neatly dressed women huddle in a corner of the Harare
International Airport, occasionally casting an eye out for elusive
customers. The sales women at the posh and well-stocked shops that line the
US$81 million terminal are not really expecting to do any business today. 

Maria, who declines to give her surname but works in a shop selling African
curios, glances around the empty and silent departure lounge and fears she
might soon be out of a job. 

As she watches the maintenance staff clean already spotless floors for the
upteenth time, she tells the Financial Gazette: "We might just have to close
the shop. 

"We used to do much better in the past but the situation has become
difficult. Very few customers are coming our way now. As you can see, there
is no activity here." 

In fact, business is so slow at the airport that an Internet cafe opened to
cater for travellers is cashing in on the patronage of employees at the
terminal, who literally have nothing to do all day. 

The Internet cafe proprietor, Alexios Matenga, disclosed: "We make at least
$26 000 a day and that is not bad. The main reason why we are doing well is
that unlike other businesses here, our clients are mainly local people. 

"Those who work here are the ones who use our services most of the time." 

Built amid controversy after charges of corruption and kickbacks, the Harare
International Airport was officially opened in April last year amid pomp and
ceremony and touted as the "natural gateway to southern Africa". 

Construction of the airport, which was built on the site of a smaller
terminal, began at a time the tourism industry was one of the fastest
growing sectors in Zimbabwe. 

Passengers passing through Harare International Airport were forecast to
swell from around 1.6 million in 1997 to 2.28 million by 2005 and 2.64
million in 2010. 

But by the time the airport was officially opened last year, foreign tourist
arrival figures had plummeted because of Zimbabwe's worsening image as an
unsafe destination. 

The often violent occupation of white-owned farms by war veterans and other
ruling ZANU PF supporters in 2000 and the political violence that has
accompanied elections in the past three years combined to scare away many
tourists. 

As a result, 2002 statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe
(CAAZ), which runs the airport for the government, showed that only 1.3
million people, or about 50 percent of the 2.5 million passengers expected
to utilise the new airport, were actually arriving and departing at the
terminal. 

This was less than the 1.6 million that had in 1997 gone through the older
and smaller airport that was replaced. 

In addition, according to CAAZ figures from last year, only about 30 percent
of the people visiting the terminal were actually passengers, with the
remaining 70 percent accompanying friends or relatives to bid farewell. 

The impact of the decline in foreign tourist arrivals, which have fallen by
over 50 percent in the past three years, has been devastating to the
businesses that set up shop at the new terminal in anticipation of a surge
in travellers. 

Enterprises operating from the airport include beauty shops, Internet cafes,
banks, car hire companies, a kiosk selling magazines, newspapers and snacks
and shops specialising in the Zimbabwean curios and ethnic clothing that
appeal to tourists. 

Most look deserted as employees idly pass the time. 

"When tourists were still interested in coming to Zimbabwe, we were able to
make a lot of money," Maria told the Financial Gazette. 

"There are not many tourists that are coming into the country at the moment
and that has affected our business. 

"This place is always deserted. Do you see anyone yourself?" she added as
she dusted a spotless curio for the third time. 

Analysts this week said apart from the decline in security conscious
tourists, businesses at the Harare International terminal were also the
victims of Zimbabwe's economic crisis, which has forced more than 400
companies to close in the past three years. 

Skyrocketing inflation, which reached 198.9 percent in the year to December
2002 and has forced up operating costs, as well as severe foreign currency
shortages have forced at least 19 international carriers out of Zimbabwe. 

According to CAAZ, only 14 of the 35 airlines that used to land in Zimbabwe
still fly into Harare International. 

Most no longer have offices at the terminal, driven away by high landing
costs and the country's hard currency squeeze. 

"The airport is suffering from what the country is suffering from," said
economic consultant John Robertson. 

"We have become a laughing stock and no one wants to come to Zimbabwe. Local
flights have also become too infrequent and too expensive. It's a terrible
tragedy." 

But according to David Chawota, CAAZ deputy director-general, the authority
has kicked off a campaign to entice back international carriers. 

"The strategy includes offering airlines incentives aimed at reducing their
operational costs, such as free landing, free parking and competitive
aviation fuel charges," Chawota said. 

But until Zimbabwe comes to grips with the fundamental causes of its worst
economic crisis in 22 years, employees at the new terminal fear the only
significant activity they will continue to see will be on the nights
Zimbabweans, leaving the country in search of better opportunities, fly out.


A large number of Zimbabwean professionals regularly fly out of Harare
International Airport in search of work in other countries, especially the
United Kingdom. 

But Maria laughs scornfully when asked if such activity brings business.
Most of the people milling around on such days would be relatives
accompanying passengers, she pointed out. 

"The place will be packed, but it will be full of Zimbabweans who can't even
afford a burger," she said bitterly. 

"You find one person being accompanied by 20 people and they will be moving
all over the place touching our things and complaining how expensive they
are. They don't buy anything." 

But analysts pointed out that most of the goods in the airport shops were
priced well above ordinary Zimbabweans as businesses attempted to recoup
their losses by raising prices. 

Robertson said: "Their prices are very high. They are trying to make up for
the lost business by charging high prices. You can't even buy sweets or
chocolate there. I guess they just sit there and wonder what to do because
there are no customers." 

An employee at an airport beauty shop, who identified herself only as
Charity, added: 

"Most locals can't afford the prices we charge here because we target
foreigners and locals don't seem prepared to spend a fortune on their
beauty. Things are better when there is a Luanda or Nairobi flight because
they bring in some business. 

"The problem is that although they bring foreigners prepared to spend, the
flights are only once a week."


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