Flights to Harare from the UK

Good news first: you can fly straight to Harare again. Since 22 July 2026, Air Zimbabwe has been running a nonstop from Gatwick three times a week, and it gets you there in about ten and a half hours.

That doesn’t make it the right flight for everyone. A one-stop ticket through Addis Ababa or Kigali can cost a fair bit less, come with more luggage, or simply have a seat on the day you actually need to travel. We check both before we quote you, so you’re not left wondering whether you’ve missed something cheaper.

Send us your dates and tell us how many of you are going. Message us on WhatsApp or ring 0203 925 4555, and we’ll come back with real fares rather than a page of search results.

London to Harare: the quick version

Flying direct with Air Zimbabwe

The nonstop leaves Gatwick’s South Terminal in the evening on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and you land in Harare the next morning. Coming home, it leaves Harare on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Times shift a little with the seasons, so we’ll give you the exact ones when we quote.

Here’s something most booking sites don’t mention. The plane, an Airbus A330-300, is actually flown for Air Zimbabwe by a Spanish airline called Plus Ultra. That won’t change much for you. You still book, check in and travel under Air Zimbabwe’s rules, and it’s their baggage allowance that counts.

When the route came back, Air Zimbabwe advertised fares from £490 one way and £675 return. Don’t expect those to hang around. Three flights a week isn’t a lot of seats for the number of Zimbabweans living in the UK, so the cheaper ones go early. December goes quickest of all.

Is the nonstop worth paying more for?

Quite often, yes. If you’re bringing your mum and dad back for Christmas, or travelling with a toddler, one long flight beats two shorter ones with a dash through a strange airport in the middle. The same goes if you’ve only got a week off and don’t want to lose a day to connections.

It’s less obvious when you’re travelling on your own, your dates are flexible and the one-stop fare is £150 cheaper. That’s your call to make. Our job is to put the two options next to each other so you can make it properly.

One-stop flights to Harare

If the nonstop is full, or the price gap is too big to ignore, these are the routes we book most. The African hubs are usually quicker. The Gulf ones give you more departure times and more UK airports to choose from.

Journey times are taken from recent schedules and change with the season.

British Airways stopped flying its own planes to Harare years ago. Search BA today and you’ll be sold a connection on a partner airline, which is fine, but it’s worth knowing who you’ll actually be flying with.

One thing we always look at is the arrival time. A ticket that saves you £30 but lands at two in the morning isn’t much of a saving if someone has to drive out to Harare airport to collect you.

Flying to Harare from Manchester, Birmingham or Scotland

The nonstop only goes from Gatwick, so if you live further north you’ve got a choice: fly from your local airport with a change or two, or get yourself down to Gatwick and fly direct. We’ll usually price both.

From Manchester, Gulf and East African airlines give you plenty of one-stop options to Harare. In the busy weeks, though, Manchester fares can climb well above London ones, and that’s when a train to Gatwick starts to look sensible.

Birmingham is closer to London than people think. It’s worth comparing a Birmingham departure with the nonstop before you commit.

From Edinburgh, Glasgow or Newcastle, you’ll be changing at least once, sometimes twice. That’s exactly when it matters to have the whole trip on one ticket. Your bags go straight through to Harare, and if a delay makes you miss a connection, the airline has to sort you out.

How much does a flight to Harare cost?

Outside the school holidays, most return flights from London to Harare come in somewhere between about £580 and £800. Over Christmas and in August they often pass £1,000. One-way tickets on one-stop routes can be found from around £400 when you catch them at the right time.

Harare fares we’ve booked recently

Prices include taxes and were correct when booked. Fares change daily.

When it’s cheaper, and when it really isn’t

Late January through to May is usually kind on the wallet, and so are September and the first half of November. The expensive stretches are mid-December to early January, Easter, and late July into August, which is exactly when most families want to go home.

How early should you book?

For normal dates, eight to twelve weeks ahead gets you close to the best price. For Christmas in Harare, start looking in the summer. We mean it. And if you need to fly in the next few days, call us rather than messaging, so we can check seats while you’re still on the phone.

Seen it cheaper somewhere else?

Send us a screenshot. If it’s the same airline, same dates, same cabin and the same baggage, we’ll aim to beat it by £30 on fares we can book through our airline partners. If we can’t, we’ll say so straight away rather than waste your time.

Bringing family over from Harare

A lot of our Harare bookings actually run the other way: parents and grandparents coming over to visit, a new baby, a graduation. You pay here in pounds, we issue the ticket, and it lands in their inbox or on WhatsApp the same day.

One word of warning. Zimbabwean passport holders need a UK visit visa before they travel. Check what’s required on GOV.UK, and don’t buy a non-refundable ticket until the visa has actually been granted.

When you land in Harare

The airport

Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, code HRE, sits about 15 km south-east of the city centre. All international flights into Harare use it, as do the domestic flights to Victoria Falls and Bulawayo.

Your visa

British citizens can get a visa on arrival, normally for 30 days. Have small US dollar notes ready to pay for it, and make sure your passport has at least six months left and three blank pages. Our flights to Zimbabwe page goes through the e-visa and the KAZA Univisa properly, and the Foreign Office keeps the official rules up to date.

Getting into town

Most people are met by family or book a hotel pickup before they fly. If you take a taxi, agree the fare before you get in and have dollars on you. The morning arrival on the nonstop helps here: you’re driving into Harare in daylight, not stumbling out of the terminal at midnight.

Going further than Harare

Harare to Victoria Falls is a flight of a little over an hour with Air Zimbabwe or fastjet, against a very long day on the road. A lot of our customers fly into Harare, spend time with family, then hop over to the Falls and fly home from there. That’s called an open-jaw ticket, and it often costs about the same as an ordinary return.

Bulawayo is a short domestic flight away too. We can tie it into your main booking so the whole trip sits on one itinerary.

Packing for a Harare flight

Hardly anyone flies to Harare with just a holiday suitcase. There’s shopping for the family, school uniforms, medicine, a laptop for a cousin. So the baggage allowance matters as much as the fare, and sometimes more.

• Two fares on the same flight can come with different allowances. We tell you what’s included on every option.
• Adding a bag when you book is nearly always cheaper than paying at the Gatwick desk.
• Weigh everything at home. Airlines go by weight per bag, so two half-full cases beat one that’s bursting.
• Keep prescription medicine in your hand luggage, in its original packaging.
• Cash over US$10,000 has to be declared when you arrive, and you can’t leave Zimbabwe with more than US$2,000.

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Why book your Harare flight with us

We’re Travel Hunters, a trading name of Times Travel Ltd, with an office at 13 Station Rd, London SE25 5AH. Your flight-inclusive booking is protected under our ATOL, number 74904, and you’ll get an ATOL certificate with it. If you ever book with anyone and don’t receive one, ask why, because without it your money isn’t ATOL protected.

What you get from us that a search engine won’t give you: the nonstop and the one-stop options laid out side by side, the baggage spelled out before you pay, and a real person to call when you need to change a date. We book in both directions, too, so we can sort your family’s ticket from Harare as easily as yours from London.

How it works

You send us your dates, your airport, who’s travelling and roughly how much luggage. We send back two or three options with the price, the airline, how long it takes and what bags are included. You pick one and pay by [payment methods]. Your e-ticket and ATOL certificate come by email.

Questions people ask us about Harare flights

Is there a direct flight from London to Harare?

There is now. Air Zimbabwe flies nonstop from Gatwick to Harare on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and it’s the only direct flight between the UK and Zimbabwe.

Which London airport do Harare flights leave from?

The nonstop goes from Gatwick’s South Terminal. Connecting flights also leave from Heathrow, Stansted and London City, depending on who you fly with.

How long does it take to fly from London to Harare?

About ten and a half hours on the nonstop. With one change in Africa it’s normally 14 to 18 hours, and through the Gulf it can be a fair bit longer.

Does British Airways still fly to Harare?

Not on its own planes. BA will sell you a ticket, but you’ll be flying a partner airline and changing somewhere along the way.

Can I fly Emirates to Harare?

You can, with a change in Dubai. It’s a good shout if you’d rather fly from Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle or Glasgow than trek to London.

Can my family fly direct from Harare to London?

Yes, on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The flight lands at Gatwick.

What does a return ticket from London to Harare cost?

In quieter months, usually around £580 to £800. At Christmas and in August it’s common to see fares over £1,000. Air Zimbabwe’s launch fares started at £675 return.

Which airline is cheapest to Harare?

Honestly, it changes from week to week. Ethiopian, RwandAir and Uganda Airlines are often the cheapest one-stop options, but when Air Zimbabwe has promotional seats, the nonstop can beat them all.

Is a one-way ticket to Harare much cheaper?

Sometimes it’s barely cheaper than a return, which catches people out. One-stop one-ways can be found from around £400, and Air Zimbabwe advertised one-way fares from £490 when it relaunched. We’ll always price both for you.

How much are Christmas flights to Harare?

Well above the yearly average if you fly in the second half of December. Book in the summer if you can. It’s the single best thing you can do for the price.

Can I pay for my flight in instalments?

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Can you book a ticket for my parents to come to the UK from Harare?

We do this all the time. You pay here and we send the ticket to them. Just wait until their UK visit visa is approved before you book.

I need to get to Harare urgently for a funeral. Can you help?

We’re sorry. Call us on 0203 925 4555 and we’ll check what’s available that day, including the nonstop, while you’re on the line.

Can I change the name on my Harare ticket?

Generally not. Airlines will fix a small spelling mistake, but they won’t let you hand the ticket to someone else. Check every name against the passport before you pay.

Can I fly to Harare from Manchester?

Yes, with at least one change. We’ll compare it with the Gatwick nonstop so you can see what you’d save in money against what you’d lose in time.

What is Harare airport called, and what’s its code?

Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport. Its code is HRE.

How far is the airport from Harare city centre?

Around 15 km. Leave yourself extra time if you’re driving through at rush hour.

What’s the time difference between the UK and Harare?

Harare stays on UTC+2 all year. That puts it two hours ahead of the UK in winter and one hour ahead during British Summer Time.

Can I get a visa when I land in Harare?

British passport holders can, normally for 30 days. Pay in small US dollar notes, as change isn’t always available.

Will I need US dollars in Harare?

Definitely for the visa, and they’re widely used for taxis and day-to-day spending too.

Can I get from Harare to Victoria Falls by plane?

Yes. Air Zimbabwe and fastjet both fly it, and you’re in the air for a little over an hour.

Can I fly into Harare and back from Victoria Falls?

You can, and it’s one of our favourite ways to plan a trip. It’s called an open-jaw ticket, it goes on one booking, and it usually costs close to a normal return.

Are Travel Hunters bookings ATOL protected?

Flight-inclusive bookings are. Our ATOL number is 74904, and you’ll get a certificate with your booking.

How quickly will you get back to me?

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Let’s find your Harare flight

Tell us when you want to go. We’ll come back with the nonstop and the best one-stop fares side by side, baggage included. Already spotted a fare somewhere? Send that over too.

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Thinking about the rest of the country? Have a look at our flights to Zimbabwe, browse all our flights to Africa, or head back to the Travel Hunters homepage.