Air Tanzania Airbus A220-300
The Tanzanian government is preparing to instigate significant improvements to domestic and regional air travel with a pair of new and improved airports.
The East African nation’s government expects the new Msalato International Airport serving the capital, Dodoma, to be operational in September. Meanwhile, the renovation of Kigoma Airport has reached the 60% mark, according to the country’s Ministry of Works.
Visiting Msalato in June, finance minister Khamis Mussa Omar noted that construction had reached its final stages, with major components of the airport’s infrastructure, including the runway and apron, largely completed.
Omar said that the infrastructure was more than 86% complete, while major buildings, including the passenger terminal, control tower, and fire station, 75% finished. The airport will have a 3,600m x 60m runway capable of handling widebody aircraft. The terminal will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million passengers.
National carrier Air Tanzania, which operates domestic services with a mix of Airbus A220-300s and De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s, will be the major operator. The A220s are used on busier trunk routes in the country, as well as to regional destinations and as far north as the Middle East.
Deputy Minister for Works Godfrey Kasekenya said that Msalato has been designed with the ability to be expanded gradually as the demand for air travel in the country grows.
The project began in 2022, with the government’s partners the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF).
Meanwhile, improvements to Kigoma airport in the far west of the country have reached the 60% mark, the country’s construction ministry and Tanzania Road Agencies (Tanroads) said June 23.
The TZS51.4 billion ($19.6 million) expansion project for the small regional airport will significantly boost its capacity, Tanroads manager for Kigoma province, Elisony Mweladzi said.
Whereas previously the airport apron was only capable of handling a single Dash 8-400, the expansion will make it capable of handling up to nine Boeing 737-sized aircraft.
Works include the construction of a 1,800m runway, and a new passenger terminal.
The project, when completed, will be an important catalyst for the economic growth of Kigoma province by strengthening air travel in western Tanzania and neighboring countries, Burundi, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Inbound tourism is a major source of traffic in Tanzania, notably for safari holidays and to the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar.
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