Tanzania enjoys airline passengers upsurge

THE number of airline passengers has increased by almost 24 per cent in the first nine months of this fiscal year

TANZANIA: THE number of airline passengers has increased by almost 24 per cent in the first nine months of this fiscal year thanks to improved air travel business.

The Minister for Transport, Prof Makame Mbarawa, said on Monday that the number increased to 5.08 million passengers in March 2023/24 from 4.10 million travelled in a similar period in 2022/23.

“The increase has been attributed to the continued improvement of air travel business in the country due to an increase in tourists and improved global aviation business,” Prof Mbarawa said when presenting the ministry budget estimates for 2024/25.

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Out of all passengers transported during the period under review, 2.76 million were domestic travellers and 2.31 million passengers international.

Additionally, according to the ministry through Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA), the number of flights landing and taking off increased by 88.43 per cent to 205,968 at the end of March 2023/24 from 109,308 registered similar period last year.

Prof Mbarawa said that the increase is attributed to the government efforts including the purchase of new aircraft, implementation strategies to promote the business internationally and also the signing Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASA).

During the 2023/24 the BASA has increased to 85 agreements from 80 entered in 2022/23. Until March, the government discussed with eleven countries on transport agreements at the conference of International Aviation Organisation (ICAO) last December and succeeded to sign five contracts with Suriname, Algeria, Czech Republic and Ivory Coast.