Some foreign airlines to the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) have resumed flights after recent suspensions following reduced traffic because of Covid-19.
Discussions are underway to have three others, Kenyan Airways (KQ),Turkish Airlines and German-based Condor Air resume flights to the country's gateway to wildlife rich northern circuit.
KLM, the Royal Dutch Airlines, has increased its frequencies to three a week while Qatar Airways now flies there daily with RwandAir and Uganda Airlines have three flights a week each.
Ethiopian Airlines, the oldest foreign carrier to land at Tanzania's second largest airport since the 1970s, operates 14 flights a week-- twice a day as of last week.
"Local flights by Air Tanzania, PrecisionAir and charter planes are operating as normal", said Ms Christine Mwakatobe, the acting managing director of Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (Kadco).
She said this while briefing the media on the operations of the facility which suffered considerably after the outbreak of the pandemic early last, sharply reducing international flights.
She said among the traditional carriers which used to land at the airport until March last year, only the Kenyan Airways, Turkish Airlines and Condor Air are yet to resume flights.
"We are discussing with them as to when they will land at KIA. We are upbeat the flow of visitors will increase", she told journalists after seeing off travel agents from Israel.
At one time Flydubai, one of the Middle East airlines operating regular flights to Tanzania, used to land at KIA but halted operations even before the outbreak of the pandemic.
Traffic to KIA sharply fell last year following the outbreak of the global pandemic which came with travel restrictions which affected many leading airlines in the world.
Most of the passengers from abroad landing at the facility are tourists heading to the world famous national parks and other tourist attractions in the northern circuit.
KIA was constructed in the late 1960s and opened in December 1971. Currently it is wholly government owned after operating under a private entity, Kadco, which has been taken over by the state.
About 87 percent of its revenue is generated from the landing fees and other fees charged on the passengers while 13 percent is earned from rent by various tenants.
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