Zimbabwe’s aviation authority said Monday it expects Rwandan flag carrier, RwandAir, to start flying into Harare before year end after successful conclusion of negotiations.

Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) chief executive David Chawota told Xinhua that negotiations took long to conclude because three countries were involved.

RwandAir was initially expected to start Harare flights in 2014.

“This year we are now pretty confident that RwandAir will be coming into Harare before the end of the year,” Chawota said.

“The talks were not finished because the operations they wanted to embark on required talks between more than one country. It was not just Rwanda- Zimbabwe but Rwanda, Zimbabwe and South Africa so the talks took a little bit longer,” he added.

Chawota said negotiations with Qatar Airways to start Harare flights were ongoing while a South African airline could possibly open a new route linking Victoria Falls and Cape Town.

Since 2009, the country has welcomed back airlines such as Air Namibia, EgyptAir, LAM Mozambique Airlines, Fastjet of Tanzania.

Air Malawi and Emirates have started flying into Zimbabwe.