Harare International airport renamed R.G. Mugabe international airport

By Wallace Mawire Harare International Airport has been renamed to Robert Gabriel Mugabe International airport at a colourful ceremony held at the airport in honour of the country’s President. According to Miriam Chikukwa, Minister of State for Harare metropolitan province, on the occasion of the renaming ceremony, the airport was first commissioned in 1956 and officially opened in 1957 as a small airport catering for colonialists. Chikukwa said after independence, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe ensured that a modern international airport depicting the national heritage and culture was constructed. She added that the current airport consists of a runway of 4 725 metres and is one of the longest runways in Africa with a capacity of at least 2,5 million passengers per year. “l am delighted that with this renaming, the airport will soon undergo a development programme, which will make an immense contribution to the achievement of the goals and objectives of our economic blue-print, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic transformation within the infrastructure and utilities cluster,” Chikukwa said.