Air Zimbabwe will restart Zimbabwe flights between Harare and London Gatwick on July 24, returning to a route that last operated in 2012. Sean M., a UK airline schedule analyst, identified that date for the Gatwick service, which is being rebuilt around a limited initial timetable.
The first schedules show two weekly flights from Harare, with UM722 leaving at 10:30 PM on Fridays and UM724 departing at 10:35 AM on Sundays. London-to-Harare flying is listed as UM723 at 9:35 PM on Sundays, giving passengers a practical first look at the service pattern before any wider expansion.
Harare and London Gatwick
The route’s return matters because it restores a direct long-haul link between Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare and London Gatwick Airport in London after a 2012 stop. Royal Zimbabwe Airlines briefly served the same city pair in 2010 and 2011, also with Boeing 767 aircraft, before Air Zimbabwe last used Boeing 767 twinjets on the route in 2012.
Air Zimbabwe reportedly plans to build the service into a thrice-weekly operation on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in both directions. For travelers, the immediate change is simpler than the longer-term plan: the route starts with two weekly flights, then may move to three weekly frequencies once the airline chooses to widen the schedule.
Plus Ultra Airbus A330
The flights will be operated by wet-leased Plus Ultra Airbus A330s, not by Air Zimbabwe’s own aircraft. That arrangement follows the airline’s ban from EU airspace, which prevents Air Zimbabwe from using its own fleet on this route and leaves the carrier dependent on ACMI capacity for the launch.
Plus Ultra said, “This operation reinforces our growth strategy and the consolidation of the ACMI division as one of the company's key areas.” The statement ties the Zimbabwe service to a wider aircraft-substitution model: one airline sells the route while another supplies the plane and crew.
Gatwick’s wider long-haul pull
The launch lands in a period of renewed long-haul activity at London Gatwick Airport. Air Arabia began flying there from Sharjah International Airport on July 4, initially once a day and with a second daily frequency due to start tomorrow for the rest of the year. AirAsia X will follow on August 27 with its first flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to London via Bahrain, initially four times a week before moving to daily in November and December.
For Air Zimbabwe passengers, the practical questions now are the seat pattern and how long the opening timetable will hold. The airline has put the July 24 return date on the calendar, the service is set to start with two weekly flights, and the only change still hanging over the route is when the move to three weekly frequencies will begin.
