WHILE Kenya is still dilly dallying with the issue of allowing Tanzania’s cheapest airline to fly to Nairobi, Fastjet has just announced its new route linking Kilimanjaro International Airport to Uganda’s Entebbe terminal.
The airline has also been generous enough in extending its flights to Mwanza.
Announcing the new schedule in Arusha at the weekend, the Fastjet Manager in charge of the East African Region, Mr Jimmy Kibati, said that direct flights between KIA and Entebbe were crucial.
The flights come in the backdrop of increasing trading activities between the Northern Tanzanian urban centres, Arusha City and Moshi Municipality with the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
Fastjet, which has become a darling airline among budget conscious travellers, will be trailblazing across Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and Kampala three times a week using its Airbus A319 aircraft as from March 31.
The flights are expected to be taking off at 8.55 am in the Morning. Previously passengers flying to Kampala used to connect two flights from KIA via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi using code shared Precision Air and Kenya Airways.
From Entebbe, Fastjet will be making a return journey to Kilimanjaro from 10.55am and this is expected to taxi at KIA by 12.20pm in the afternoon.
The flights are planned to run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at pocket friendly 95,000/- per fare.
In yet another development, there will be new Fastjet flights set to be linking Kilimanjaro Airport with Mwanza in the Lake Zone starting from 12.20 pm at KIA going to Mwanza where it is to land at about 3.15 pm in the evening.
The flight fare between Kilimanjaro and Mwanza stands at 35,000/-. The fare rate poses a threat to passenger bus operators who are charging the same, or higher for their “rickety ground based public transport.”
The Fastjet Manager explained that his company already has great presence in both Uganda and Tanzania and thus it only remained for the two countries to be linked together for maximum effect and efficiency.
The airline already serves domestic flights between Dar es Salaam, Mbeya, Kilimanjaro and Mwanza as well as International voyages linking Dar es Salaam to Harare in Zimbabwe, Lusaka in Zambia, Johannesburg in South Africa, and now Entebbe in Uganda, with a pending application to fly to Nairobi, Kenya.
(Adopted from Dailynews.co.tz)
