Qatar Airways will launch flights to Zanzibar, the airline’s third gateway in Tanzania after Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro from this summer. The airline will introduce a new five-times-a-week flight to the Spice Island via Kilimanjaro from July 1, 2015 as it modifies its current schedule into the East African country to accommodate the new destination.

After launching flights into Tanzania in 2007 with a regular link between Doha and Dar es Salaam, Qatar Airways introduced flights to Kilimanjaro from 2012, operating as a triangle route in conjunction with its existing destination. The new link to Zanzibar will see Kilimanjaro delinked from Dar es Salaam and instead being served directly from Doha.

The mystic spice island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean will take the total number of destinations in the airline’s African network to 20 cities. The new destination is a popular island holiday spot for leisure travellers with its white sandy beaches, abundant wild life, rich culture and long history.

“Today’s announcement of new services to Zanzibar reflects our commitment to connect diverse cities via our Doha hub and offer our passengers an extensive range of exciting global destinations. As our 20th gateway in Africa, Zanzibar will strengthen our presence as one of the biggest airlines flying to the African continent,” said His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer, Qatar Airways Group.

Qatar Airways’ African expansion in the past weeks has included the announcement of a new destination Durban and increase in flights to Johannesburg which will launch on December 17, 2015, and also an increase in frequency to Cape Town from October 1, 2015 this year.

“I would like to thank the Tanzanian government for supporting our newest route to Zanzibar. The exposure of Zanzibar to the world through Qatar Airways’ global network will enable Tanzania to attract even more tourists and businesses alike,” added Al Baker.

The Doha – Kilimanjaro – Zanzibar route will be served by an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.

A study of passenger flows on Qatar Airways’ existing flights into Tanzania over the past 12 months data shows the airline is carrying around 15,000 bi-directional passengers a month on its flights in and out of Tanzania with very healthy loads.

Our analysis highlights the largest O&D markets for the airline’s flights in and out of Tanzania in 2014. London Heathrow is the largest single market, followed by point-to-point demand into Doha, then Paris Charles de Gaulle and the Chinese gateways of Beijing Capital International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.