Qatar’s ambassador to Tanzania Jassim al-Maadadi, Marwan Koleilat, Qatar Airways V-P (Africa) Jared Lee and a delegation of the airline’s senior management with Juma Duni Haji and other local ministers on the red carpet at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport, Zanzibar.
Qatar Airways launched its second new destination of the year when it touched down in the Spice Island of Zanzibar on Wednesday.
Zanzibar is the airline’s third route in Tanzania following Dar-es-Salaam and Kilimanjaro.
Qatar Airways will initially operate five weekly flights to Zanzibar via Kilimanjaro and, from October 1, offer an additional two weekly flights - making it a daily operation.
Out of the daily flights from October, passengers will be able to fly non-stop to Zanzibar three times a week and on a linked flight via Kilimanjaro four times a week.
Flight QR1355 arrived at the Zanzibar international airport at 4.20pm (local time) and was welcomed by local dignitaries.
Qatar Airways chief commercial officer Marwan Koleilat, who was on the inaugural flight, said: “This latest route marks yet another significant milestone for the airline that has spread its international wings to its 20th gateway in Africa and 148th destination globally.
“Zanzibar’s attraction as a tourist destination has been steadily growing as more travellers discover its wonderful combination of cultures, and Qatar Airways is delighted to be able to give more people the opportunity to visit this beautiful island with all it has to offer.”
Juma Duni Haji, Zanzibar’s Minister for Infrastructure and Communication, said: “It is with pleasure and extreme pride that we welcome Qatar Airways to Zanzibar. We are delighted this global airline has chosen Zanzibar as its newest destination in Africa and we look forward to working together with the Qatar Airways team to bring further investment, trade and tourism to our island.”
Qatar Airways is operating an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration on the Zanzibar-Doha route, with 12 seats in business class and up to 132 in economy. Each seat on selected flights offers an interactive audio and video entertainment system featuring up to 1,000 options of movies, TV programmes and music channels.
In addition, passengers can remain connected with friends, colleagues and family on the ground with an SMS service using their mobile devices.
Qatar Airways’ African portfolio of destinations covers a diverse group of cities that also includes Nairobi, Entebbe, Kigali, Lagos, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Addis Ababa, Alexandria, Algiers, Asmara, Cairo, Casablanca, Djibouti, Khartoum and Luxor.
