Zambia and Zimbabwe Agree Closer Air Traffic Coordination Over Victoria Falls Airspace
One waterfall, two countries, two control towers. That simple fact has shaped flight operations around Victoria Falls for decades, and it is now the focus of fresh work between the aviation authorities of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The two sides agreed on 13 September 2026, during a regional air traffic coordination meeting held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, to strengthen cooperation between the air traffic services that manage the skies above Livingstone and Victoria Falls.
For tour operators and destination companies working the Zambezi region, this is more than a technical matter. The falls sit directly on the border. Livingstone's Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport serves the Zambian side, while Victoria Falls Airport serves the Zimbabwean side. The two airports are only a short drive apart, yet they belong to different flight information regions and different national systems. Every scenic flight, every transfer and every aircraft that crosses the gorge touches both.
Controllers on the two sides have long worked together in practice. Aircraft that circle the falls to give passengers a view routinely pass through both airspaces, and this has been handled through direct coordination between the two control teams rather than through separate procedures. What is being discussed now is how to put that cooperation on a firmer and more modern footing as traffic grows.
The timing fits wider investment in the region. Zambia has been modernising its air traffic control centres in Lusaka and Livingstone with the Thales TopSky system, including data link communication between controllers and pilots, which reduces reliance on voice radio alone. On the Zimbabwean side, Victoria Falls Airport was rebuilt in a large upgrade programme by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, designed to lift passenger capacity from around 500,000 to close to two million a year. Better systems on both banks of the Zambezi make joint procedures easier to build.
Why should sales teams pay attention? Because airspace efficiency quietly shapes schedules. Smoother handovers between control centres support more flexible arrival and departure slots, shorter holding times and better use of runway capacity in peak season. For a destination that depends on a narrow high season and on connecting traffic, small operational gains can mean extra rotations. Victoria Falls Airport already handles services to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Doha and Dubai, and is the better connected of the two gateways. Livingstone depends more heavily on Johannesburg feed. Anything that makes the joint airspace work better strengthens the case for new services on both sides.
There is also a product angle. Many visitors already view the falls from both countries, using the KAZA UNIVISA concept and road transfers across the Victoria Falls Bridge. Closer aviation cooperation supports the idea of selling the falls as one destination with two entry points, rather than two competing airports. Operators building safari circuits can plan fly-in and fly-out on different sides, combining Livingstone with Chobe in Botswana or Victoria Falls with Hwange. Agencies should keep checking current visa rules, however, since entry requirements differ by nationality and change from time to time.
It is worth noting that this agreement has not yet been widely documented in publicly available records, and the detail of what was signed remains limited. Trade partners should treat the specifics with care until the two authorities publish more.
Still, the direction of travel is clear enough to plan around. Southern Africa is slowly building the shared systems that a single, cross-border tourism region needs. Companies that already sell one falls, not two countries, will find it easier to add capacity when airlines come knocking. Those who treat the Zambezi as a wall rather than a bridge may find their competitors have crossed it first.
