Julius Nyerere International Airport

TANZANIA has several airports and airstrips serving air transport and tourism. The 3 main Airports are Arusha’s Kilimanjaro International Airport, Dar es Salaam’s Nyerere International Airport and Zanziba International Airport. The first two also serve the northern and southern circuits respectively.  Local flights serve the major cities, national parks & reserves, and arrive and depart from these 3 major airports as well as Arusha Airport that manages smaller aircraft and national flights only.

There are quite a number of scheduled flights into the national parks from Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza and Musoma amongst others. These scheduled flights are operated by private charter companies and operate on a daily basis. The aircraft used depend on the airstrip’s serviceability, but range from larger twin engine to smaller single engine types.

Arusha is famous for servicing both the Northern and Southern Safari Circuits with Scheduled Flights into the national parks from Arusha. However all international flights land at Kilimanjaro Airport first as Arusha airport is not recognized as a ‘port of entry.’

There are many Private Charter firms in Tanzania based at the airports mentioned above, with aircraft ranging from 10,12,18 to 37 seaters for charter services including:  emergency airlifts, helicopter charters, V.I.P executive jet flights, cargo & freight flights, aerial survey & photography flights, tour safaris and aerial photography flights.

Charter flights are available from any of Tanzania’s airport-points of entry & exit, including Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Musoma and Zanzibar to Kenyan national parks or from Kenyan national parks. Interestingly, you can fly directly into Kenya’s national parks from Tanzania or Uganda, providing you give 4 working days notice for the Kenyan authorities to arrange immigration and customs officers to meet your air charter and issue visas – But his service is NOT available in Tanzania.

The major carriers that operate into Kilimanjaro International Airport include:

Ethiopian Airways (SAA)

KLM in cooperation with Kenya Airways, Air France & Northwest Airlines

Condor (from Germany with connection flights to West Europe)

South African Airways (in cooperation with Air Tanzania from Johannesburg)

The major carriers that operate into Dar es Salaam International Airport include:

KLM in cooperation with Air France and Northwest Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines

Qatar Airways

Emirates

Swiss Airlines

British Airways

South African Airways (in cooperation with Air Tanzania from Johannesburg)

Fly 540 (connecting East Africa)

In addition to these international airlines, there are other national airlines that take care of internal flights and charter flights within the country and some regions beyond. They include:

Coastal Aviation

Air Excel

Regional Air Services

Tanganyika Flying Company

Precision Air

Zanair

Foxes Air Charter

Tanzanair

(Thanks go to Antony Juma whose information contributed to creating this document)