Published: 10 June 2013

NINE years after abandoning flights to and from Harare because of the then worsening political and economic climate, EgyptAir is set to resume operations with, initially, four times weekly return flights from June 1.

A spokesperson for the Egyptian national aviation carrier confirmed that flights will leave Cairo each Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, via Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, returning from Harare on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays on the same route.

Boeing 737-900ERs will be used on the eight-hour 15-minute flight to the Egyptian capital. The return journey is scheduled to take 10 hours 20 minutes.

Cairo is the main aviation hub for North Africa, the Middle East and much of the eastern Mediterranean. EgyptAir serves 17 African destinations and 20 in Europe, including London. The EgyptAir flight to Heathrow from Harare will take 21 hours 50 minutes and the return trip 16 hours 50 minutes, both including a Cairo stopover.

An EgyptAir airline ticket with a month's validity to London from Harare in June/July was shown on Skyscanner.Com yesterday as costing $988.

While Egypt is still experiencing violent repercussions from the Arab Spring Revolution, it is home to some of the world's most popular travel destinations, including the Pyramids at Cairo; Luxor, Karnack and the Valley of the Kings, from which most of the Nile cruises operate and the all-year-round luxury beach resorts of the Sinai Peninsula, such as Sharm-el-Sheikh with unrivalled snorkeling and scuba diving opportunities.

Skyscanner.Com quotes a return ticket from Harare to Cairo as costing $611 by EgyptAir, which abandoned flights to Zimbabwe following the land invasions about the same time as did Qantas of Australia, Air France and Lufthansa (Germany).
- newsday

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