Tour Operators in Tanzania have been negotiating with the Germany’s Leisure airline, Condor, so that the Frankfurt based carrier may include the Northern Circuit route in its East African Charter and scheduled flights.
So far the Condor airline cover three East African destinations like Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya and Zanzibar islands of Tanzania.
But the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO)’s Executive, Sirili Akko points out that with over 80 percent of tourists coming into the country usually head to the Northern Circuit, it is important for Condor Air to introduce direct flights between Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) and Frankfurt Germany.
“Germany is an important tourist market for Tanzania, because visitors from the country usually spend more days when they come here, usually more than ten days unlike other tourists who stay for only six nights on the maximum,” explained Mr Akko, adding that Condor will help boost the destination further.
The Country Manager of Condor Tanzania, Paul Nzegele revealed that at the moment the airline runs direct flights between Germany and Zanzibar twice a week, but from November 2023 they intend to increase the frequency to three landings in the Isles due to increasing number of travellers towards the festive seasons.
As for the proposed flights to Kilimanjaro International Airport, Nzegele said the company was working on the idea and possibly from next year, Condor will start flying directly from Germany to the Northern Tanzanian destination.
Condor currently operates the 310 seater Airbus A330-900 Neo, in the company’s routes to Abeid Amani Karume International Airport in the Isles as well as Jomo Kenyatta International of Nairobi that also links to Mombasa.
The Manager of Rickshaw Travels Limited, Glory Mlay admitted that most of her company’s clients who sample the Northern Tourist Circuit hail from Germany but few airlines fly directly from Frankfurt to Kilimanjaro which means they are forced to connect through Zanzibar and Nairobi.
“Sometimes the flights get fully booked, especially during end of year holidays, which means the market here is ripe for new airlines and more routes,” Ms Mlay maintained.
On her part, Edna Saul from Abercrombie & Kent, on behalf of other travel industry stakeholders in Tanzania, appealed to Condor to also establish direct flights between Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg South Africa to Kilimanjaro Airport in Northern Tanzania, because there is more demand for the flights.
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