ZIMBABWE’S main airport is set to undergo a major facelift to be funded by China as part of the government’s efforts to transform the facility into a regional aviation hub.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday commissioned the construction at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by China Jiangsu International at a cost of US$153 million.

The upgrading and expansion work will be carried out in three years to modernize the airport and boost its annual passenger handling capacity to 6 million from the current 2.5 million.

The airport expansion is China Jiangsu’s second airport development project in Zimbabwe in two years after it completed the upgrading of Victoria Falls International Airport in 2016, which trebled the airport’s annual passenger handling capacity to 1.5 million.

Mnangagwa thanked the Chinese Government for expediting release of the US$153 million loan facility by China’s Exim Bank for the airport expansion.

(Xinhua)