Dar es Salaam to get new air link with South Africa

(eTN) – It was confirmed last week that Comair, the franchisee for British Airways in South Africa and also operator of low-cost airline Kulula.com, will commence flights into Dar es Salaam from November of this year. The airline is set to fly five times a week between Johannesburg and Dar, the limit set under their present licence granted by Tanzania’s air transport licensing body, and Comair already stated their intent to eventually operate daily flights. It is presently not entirely clear if the flights will be operated under Kulula.com or under Comair’s British Airways franchise, but intending passengers will probably not mind that at all as long as added options for flights are put on the market at affordable fares.

In the past, South African tour operators sent plenty of visitors to explore Tanzania’s national parks, beaches, and islands, but the near collapse of Air Tanzania, and the resulting unsettled huge claims for tickets already paid when the airline ceased operations on the route to Johannesburg, has deeply upset the travel and affected tourism stakeholders. Such contingent liabilities actually are one of the major reasons for the reluctance of potential core investors in Air Tanzania Company Limited, which the government has been wooing. With this new connection, operated by a rather more reliable and better reputed South African airline, this reluctance to promote Tanzania will probably be overcome in the coming weeks ahead of the inaugural flight and regular business will undoubtedly resume soon.