Kenya Airways will face stiff competition for the South African route as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) unveils four direct flights per week after a 10-year absence.
Other fleets that operate regular flights on the route include Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates, Turkish Airlines and RwandAir.
Air Tanzania looks at connecting its four major airports Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in the commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar International Airport, Kilimanjaro International Airport in northern Tanzania, and Mwanza International Airport on Lake Victoria with the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
The four direct flights – on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday- per week, will be operated two types of aircraft on the route, a B787 Dreamliner with 240 seats and an A220 with 120 seats.
The Airbus A220-300 touchdown at O.R Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg South Africa.#flyairtanzania#thewingsofkilimanjaro#airtanzania#Johannesburg#Southafrica pic.twitter.com/lJ38Ynlwyc
— Air Tanzania (@AirTanzania) June 28, 2019
Bongiwe Pityi-Vokwana, general manager of OR Tambo International Airport, said, “We are delighted to welcome Air Tanzania, particularly as increasing mobility between African countries are essential to economic development. The successful implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), signed by 44 African countries last year, requires greater movement and trade among African countries. We, therefore, believe that new direct connections between South Africa and Tanzania will deepen regional integration, improve intra-regional trade levels and air connectivity.”
Eng. Ladislaus Matindi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Air Tanzania say the airline’s network ‘is growing all the time’.
“It now stands at 15 destinations, with ten inside Tanzania and five abroad.”
“For us, this new route is a significant entry to the southern African market and we are confident of being able to grow further around the region.”
Air Tanzania currently serves Harare, Lusaka and they hope to add Mumbai, Guangzhou, Bangkok, and London.
According to Pwc Hotel Outlook 2019-2023, “Tanzania is well positioned to attract more adventure tourists, which is becoming a more important sector in the overall tourism industry.”
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However, when compared to Kenya, Pwc the report says “Tanzania ranks higher than Kenya with respect to safety and security, but lower than Kenya for tourist service infrastructure. Improvements in these areas will help Tanzania boost its tourism market.”
