Published on 19/02/2024
Tanzania and Russia are planning direct flights, a report in the Russian state-owned news agency shows.
Quoting Tanzania’s Ambassador to Russia, Mr Fredrick Ibrahim Kibuta, the Sputnik writes on its website that an agreement to allow direct flights between the two countries would be signed in the near future.
“We are in the final stages of signing an agreement of mutual understanding and cooperation between our airlines in order to organize direct flights from Russia to Tanzania, even from St Petersburg there will be direct flights,” reports the Sputnik in a story that was posted on its website on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
“In fact, there is a need for direct flights, and we have requests from very different directions about organizing such flights,” the Sputnik writes, quoting the Tanzanian diplomat.
According to the Russian news agency, Russia has repeatedly talked about the importance of developing air links with African countries.
Last week, the Sputnik says, the Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry declared its efforts to broaden Africa’s flight geography, adding that Russian Aeroflot airlines resumed flights to the Seychelles in 2022 and Mauritius a year later.
Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa are on the list of African countries that the Africa Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry views as most popular sub-Saharan African travel destinations for Russian travelers.
According to Mr Kibuta, as quoted by the Sputnik, until recently Russians were actively traveling to Tanzania hence the need for direct flights between the two countries.