East African carrier, Air Tanzania has announced plans to launch direct, nonstop flights between the United Kingdom and Tanzania starting in July 2027.
This move will restore direct air connectivity between the two nations for the first time since 2013, significantly easing travel for tourists and business travellers. “We will be flying direct from London Gatwick to Kilimanjaro International Airport from July 2027” was the pledge announced by Peter Ulanga, the CEO of Air Tanzania.
According to atta.travel, Ulanga stated that Air Tanzania (‘The Wings of Kilimanjaro’) will schedule a minimum of three flights per week and whilst accepting that business as well as F&F (Tanzanian nationals visiting Family and Friends) categories will be of great importance, the key sales driver will be tourism to Tanzania and Zanzibar.
“We will also run direct flights to Zanzibar, expanding the tourism potential of that destination from the UK, too” added CEO Ulanga. Acknowledging the challenges faced by airlines wanting to introduce new routes, he stated that he was confident that they would be ready well ahead of time, but were choosing not to overpromise. Instead, a comprehensive and well developed activity plan was already being implemented.
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Ulanga recognises that the reliability of flights and their timings hold huge importance. Thats partly the reason that he was delighted to confirm that current data shows that more than 90% of Air Tanzania flights land within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival times. To boost confidence, Mr. Ulanga has implemented a firm policy that no AT flights can be cancelled without the personal approval of the CEO. Since its introduction, not one single AT flight has failed to take off.
Whilst Air Tanzania is a major domestic player (serving 13 domestic airports including Zanzibar), the airline already boast 11 international routes, with more to come in the short term. AT currently flies within Africa (to Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe) and across the globe to China, The Comores, India, The Seychelles and The United Arab Emirates). Russia is being added soon, with various EU cities under consideration.
His Excellency, Mbelwa Kairuki, High Commissioner to the UK for the United Republic of Tanzania and Zanzibar was delighted by the news, “It has been one of my biggest and most passionate ambitions during my assignment to the UK to see the introduction of a direct flight to my country” such is his recognition of the importance this plays in the development of tourism from the UK.
