Arusha airport reopens

Arusha’s municipal airport (ARK) has fully reopened for business following the completion of major expansion works overseen by the Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA).

The renovations at the airport, which partly-reopened in mid-June, included the upgrading of the entire runway area to facilitate the access of bigger aircraft. During the renovation works, airlines had been using Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), located about 60 km east of Arusha.

On 4 July Tanzania’s largest carrier Precision Air, based in Dar es Salaam, became the first company to resume daily scheduled flights to the airport. Local media have reported that a number of airlines, mainly operating tourist charter flights catering for the country's safari market, are considering switching their operations from KIA to Arusha, due to the latter's proximity to national parks of Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti.

The smaller airport, situated just a few km southwest of Arusha on the Dodoma road, is used primarily for domestic flights but in 2011 the Tanzanian government granted permission for some international flights to operate out of ARK.