Air Tanzania continues its international expansion in Africa, with the launch of services to South Africa in late November. The airline plans to operate four flights per week with Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, configured for 181 passengers in two seating classes (16 Business and 165 Economy).

In accordance with its website, Air Tanzania’s inaugural flight to Johannesburg will depart from Dar-es-Salaam, the country’s largest city and main financial hub, on November 30th at 11:00 local time. With this schedule, the company will offer 724 weekly seats on each leg, reaching almost 3,000 seats a month, with Airlink being the only competitor on the Johannesburg – Dar-es-Salaam route.

Schedule between DAR and JNB · Air Tanzania

Daily except Tuesday and Thursday

• TC 208  Dar-es-Salaam DAR 11:00 · 13:15 JNB Johannesburg
• TC 209  Johannesburg JNB 14:51 · 18:30 DAR Dar-es-Salaam

Currently, Airlink, as we announced in our September Africa and Middle East report, boosted from seven to eight weekly services on this route, which operates by 98-seat Embraer 190s. In addition, as of January 20th, 2025, South African Airways will once again serve between the two cities, providing one daily frequency on Airbus A320 jets.

Regarding Zanzibar, the other destination in Tanzania offered from Johannesburg’s Oliver Reginald Tambo Airport, FlySafair has flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with Boeing 737-800s.

Air Tanzania has one of the most modern fleets in Africa, averaging 5 years old. Airbus A220-300, Boeing 737 MAX 9, Boeing 767-300(F), Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and Dash 8 are part of the airline.

Fleet

• Airbus A220-300: 4
• Boeing 737 MAX 9: 2
• Boeing 767-300(F): 1
• Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner: 3
• DHC-8-300: 1
• DHC-8-400: 2

As can be seen through our database, in 2024, Air Tanzania added two aircraft to its fleet, including a Boeing 737 MAX 9 and its third Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Both of these are brand new, being less than one year old. 

The Boeing 737 MAX 9, with registration 5H-TCQ, departed Seattle Boeing Field on March 23rd for Dar-es-Salaam, where it arrived on March 26th after a three-day ferry flight. San Juan (Puerto Rico) and Dakar were the stops on the route.

Meanwhile, the new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registered 5H-TCR, took off from Charleston at 20:48 local time on August 19th. Following a ferry flight of 15 hours, on August 20th, the aircraft landed at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport in Zanzibar at 18:45 local time.

The next day, the 787 performed the Zanzibar – Dar-es-Salaam leg, which took 13 minutes.

Its first scheduled flight was on August 28th, covering the Dar-es-Salaam and Mumbai route. So far, besides the Indian city, Beijing, Doha, Guangzhou, Harare and Lusaka were its routes, all of them from/to Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar.

On the other hand, on October 30th at 10:22 local time, Norse UK’s inaugural flight from London Gatwick arrived in Cape Town. The South African city becomes the airline’s first regular destination in Africa and the fifth route to/from the British capital, its main hub.

Norse UK will fly three times weekly using the 338-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which are configured with 56 in Business and 282 in Economy. British and Virgin will be Norse’s two competitors on the London – Cape Town route, but both operate from/to Heathrow Airport.

Schedule between LGW and CPT · Norse

Monday, Wednesday and Saturday

• Z0 795  London LGW 20:30 · 09:50+1 CPT Cape Town

Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

• Z0 796  Cape Town CPT 11:45 · 21:20 LGW London

“We’re thrilled with the amazing response to our new London to Cape Town route. A fully sold-out inaugural flight shows just how much people want affordable, direct long-haul travel. Cape Town is a beautiful destination, and we’re excited to offer our passengers the chance to visit while enjoying great value and comfort,” said Bjørn Tore Larsen, CEO and Founder of Norse Atlantic Airways.

Cape Town has seven scheduled destinations to Europe, between eight different airports. Air France, British Airways, Condor, Edelweiss Air, KLM, Lufthansa, Norse UK, Turkish Airlines and Virgin Atlantic serve this market.

Routes

• Amsterdam (AMS): 7 weekly · KLM · 772/77W
• Frankfurt (FRA): 5 weekly · Condor · Airbus A330-900neo
• Frankfurt (FRA): 6 weekly · Lufthansa · Airbus A340-300
• Istanbul (IST): 7 weekly · Turkish · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• London (LGW): 3 weekly · Norse · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• London (LHR): 14 weekly · British · Boeing 777-300(ER)
• London (LHR): 7 weekly · Virgin · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Munich (MUC): 7 weekly · Lufthansa · Airbus A350-900
• Paris (CDG): 4 weekly · Air France · Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
• Zurich (ZRH): 4 weekly · Edelweiss · Airbus A340-300

Outside Africa and Europe, Atlanta, Doha, Dubai, Newark, Sao Paulo and Washington DC are the destinations offered to/from CPT.

As announced, Norse Atlantic Airways will begin a new route between Europe and the United States effective May 2025. Operations will be conducted with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner planes, providing three flights a week.

“The arrival of Norse at Cape Town Airport reflects our shared vision of strengthening global connectivity and enhancing the passenger experience. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with Norse, which will certainly bring new opportunities for tourism, business, and cultural ties. As we celebrate this inaugural flight, we are excited about the future and the continued expansion of our international air service offerings.”, commented Mark Maclean Regional General Manager, Airports Company South Africa, Cape Town International Airport.

“Congratulations to Norse Atlantic Airways on their inaugural flight from Gatwick to Cape Town. It’s fantastic to see another route opening between the UK and South Africa. Every year over 400,000 British tourists come to this amazing country and these vital people to people links also sustain our most important trade and economic partnership in Africa”, said British High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr. Antony Phillipson.

On November 1st, Norse made its first charter flight for P&O Cruises, marking the start of this new travel partnership. The airline operated between Manchester and Bridgetown, Barbados, with more than 300 passengers on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, registration G-CKWS.

Norse Atlantic Airways will perform a weekly flight on Fridays to Barbados from MAN, and another service per week on Saturdays connecting London Gatwick and Manchester with Antigua/Barbados (alternating weeks). This schedule offers a direct connection to P&O Cruises’ popular Caribbean itineraries.

Charter flights between the UK and the Caribbean for P&O Cruises will run until March 2025.

Other reports we have published

• Cathay lands deep in the heart of Texas
• Qatar adds a second Canadian destination
• Norse adds Rome-Los Angeles for summer 2025
• American Airlines focuses on Europe for summer 2025
• United Airlines announces massive international expansion for summer 2025

Cover photo: ORTIASpotter – JetPhotos (Johannesburg O.R. Tambo Int’l – FAOR, South Africa).