AIR Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) will on the first week of November this year launch four new regional routes and resume local flights despite challenges posed by Covid-19.
The move comes after receiving two new ATCL planes Airbus A22O-300 that landed in Zanzibar last week. The regional routes to be launched are Dar es Salaam to Bujumbura (Burundi), Ndola (Zambia), Lubumbashi (DRC) and Nairobi (Kenya).
“Also on these new routes, we will add value to the regions both as we strive to offer affordable and improved connections,” he said.
Briefing reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the ATCL Head of Communication and Public Relations, Mr Josephat Kagirwa (pictured) said the company has strategies of extending the wings over Africa and beyond so that the investment, trade and tourism opportunities presented by the flights and the expansion of the network.
He further said ATCL will be providing flights service connecting passengers on the domestic network from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza Via Dodoma, Mtwara and regionally.
“The passenger flights to Mtwara were temporarily halted due to poor infrastructure improvement to facilitate and advance aviation services for the people,” Mr Kagirwa said.
He made the remarks on behalf of ATCL Managing Director, Eng Ladislaus Matindi, that currently; Air Tanzania has been providing the Tanzanian market with a minimum of daily flights to most of the domestic networks which reaches a total of 13 destinations such as Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Geita, Bukoba, Kigoma, Mpanda, Mbeya, Tabora, Dodoma, Songea. While, regional networks are Entebbe (Uganda), Harare (Zimbabwe), Lusaka (Zambia) Hahaya (Comoros) and Mumbai (India), also ATCL flies to Guangzhou (China) where they currently operate the cargo flights once per week.
He pointed out that new flights from Kilimanjaro to Dodoma are also on the way to be launched where it will help support the government’s efforts to make the capital more accessible.
The flights will be departing Dar airport at the given time as per schedule, where the commencement dates are as, Dodoma/ Mwanza on 5 November, Dar es Salaam, Mtwara 10 November, Dar Bujumbura, 8 November, Dar to Ndola and Lubumbashi on 18 November 2021. While Dar Nairobi on 26 November.