Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe speaks during a rally to mark the Zimbabwe's 37th Independence anniversary at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, April 18, 2017. (Xinhua)
HARARE, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe's flagship airport, the Harare International Airport, was on Thursday renamed Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in honor of the country's veteran leader Robert Mugabe.
The airport was built in the 1950s during the colonial era and was later upgraded and commissioned in 2001. It has one of the longest runways in Africa, measuring 4,725 kilometers.
It has a handling capacity of 2.5 million passengers per year and the government is planning to further upgrade and expand it to increase its capacity to 6 million passengers per year and turn it into a regional air transport hub.
Officiating at the event, President Mugabe thanked the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development for honoring him through renaming the airport after him.
"It is indeed a great honor for me and it is indeed a great gesture," Mugabe said.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Joram Gumbo said in September that the ruling Zanu-PF party had on numerous occasions requested the renaming of the airport after Mugabe.
"We think it is a small recognition by the people of Zimbabwe to name the Harare International Airport as the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport. It is something small to recognize his contribution.
"He is a peacemaker. He is an icon for Africa," Gumbo said then.
Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since it attained independence from Britain in 1980.
The president reaffirmed the government's commitment to the development of the country's air transport systems to facilitate economic development.
His government, he added, was taking steps to liberalize the country's air space in line with the Yamoussoukuro Decision of 1999.
The airport becomes the second to be renamed after the country's leaders following the Bulawayo Airport which was upgraded from domestic to international airport and renamed Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport after the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo in 2001.
