Air Tanzania to soon resume direct flights to India

By Shah Imran AhmednnCAIRO: Air Tanzania will soon resume services to India with direct flights to Mumbai from Tanzanian city Dar Es Salaam, an official said on Monday.nnAir India and Air Tanzania had direct flights between the two countries but the operations were stopped in mid-1990s due to commercial reasons.nn”Air Tanzania has recently received permission to operate into India from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” Zanzibar Tourism Promotion Centre (Mumbai) Jilesh Babla told PTI here.nnThe DGCA is India’s aviation regulator.nnHe aid the African carrier would operate four direct flights per week to Mumbai from Dar Es Salaam with a Boeing 787 aircraft.nnTalking to PTI on the sidelines of the first convention of the Global Tourism Council that began here Sunday, Babla said that due to commercial reasons, direct flights were stopped by Air India and Air Tanzania.nnZanzibar Tourism Promotion Centre also promotes Tanzanian tourism.nnNew Delhi-based Bird Group has been appointed as the general sales agent for the airline.nnStating that both Tanzania and Zanzibar Island offer huge potential to Indian tourists, Babla said an equally big potential lies for the Tanzanian tourists into India.nn”Besides the world’s wildlife capital Serengeti, Tanzania has Mount Kilimanjaro as well as the exotic Zanzibar Island among the tourist hot spots, ” he said.nnAccording to him,the number of pre-departure visas to Tanzania from India stood at 39,000 last year.nnThe Global Tourism Council — set up by Travel Agents Association of India’s former president Iqbal Mulla along with other airline and travel industry experts — works to facilitate dialogue between the trade and tourism players of various countries.nnSource: Press Trust of India