Magufuli’s New Magic: Tanzania Revives India Flight after 17 Years, Launches Goods Train After 13 Years

By Staff Reporters, 18th July, 2019: 

Flight Boeing 787 Dreamliner

In what may be described as massive shift on Tanzania’s development paradigm, the current administration under reform minded President, Dr. John Pombe Magufuli is aggressively continuing to unveil surprises across sector delivery.

On 17^th July, 2019 Tanzania which under three years of President Magufuli has purchased six new planes, made a remarkable comeback by reviving its first outside Africa flight to Mumbai, India, after 17 years of stoppage.

The New Route, operated from the newly constructed Terminal III in Dar es Salaam, and through a new aircraft Boeing Dreamliner, was successfully completed in 5 hours and 30 minutes direct from Dar es Salaam to Mumbai, cutting the rout by hours and costs if one would take other commercial flights with one or more connections.

“The flight today revived the history between these two countries after 17 years of Air Tanzania’s failure to reach out to Indian market due to operational challenges. We will operate three flights are week and If need be, we shall increase the frequencies,” said the Tanzanian Minister of Transport, Eng, Isack Kamwelwe upon arrival in Mumbai. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner will dominate the Mumbai route.

Other planes purchased and received by the government of Tanzania recently include two Airbus 220-300 jet and three Q400 Bombardiers. Two more aircrafts, including another Boeing Dreamliner, are expected to arrive in Tanzania, at the end of this year. All have been purchased using government own funds.

Speaking after boarding the plane to Mumbai, one of the passengers, Naila Abdulkarim a Tanzanian what many other passengers who flock to the social media to express their happiness by saying:

“I have travelled nine times from Tanzania to Mumbai using the Emirates that charges four times higher compared to Air Tanzania. Today, I am travelling with the cheaper but ultra-modern flight, Air Tanzania. Thank you President Magufuli, I am proud of you.”

The route is expected to attract businesses and investments between the two friendly nations as well as boost tourism. According to World Travel Tourism Council, total contribution of tourism to GDP in 2017 was 9.0 percent and it rose to 9.1 percent in 2018. Tanzania wants to reach out to Indian and Chinese market.  

A recent report by the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) titles “Unlocking the Potential of Tourism Industry for Tanzanians indicates clearly that revenues in Tourism will increase up $16 billion annually by 2025.

                           Old Rail, Brings New Hope

The Magufuli administration is also expanding improvement of the rail transport. Construction of Africa’s longest and biggest own funded Standard Gauge Rail (SGR) is estimated at over 50 implementation progress for the first two lots.

New locomotives expected to operate the revived route

However, the government is also funding improvements and revival of the old railway line on the central to the Western region through a World Bank loan and to the Northern parts connecting Dar es Salaam to the North Eastern Port of Tanga and to the Northern tourism circuit in Kilimanjaro and Arusha.

The Northern line from commercial city of Dar to Tanga and Kilimanjaro that seized operations in 1994 for passenger trains and 2007 for cargo services is finally on 20^th July, 2019 set to launch its cargo services. Passenger services will resume in December, 2019.

“The revival of the old line from Dar es Salaam to Tanga and Kilimanjaro is now at a good stage and I will be ready to launch cargo train services on Saturday (20^th July, 2019),” said Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on his tour of the Kilimanjaro region.

The Tanga port has of recent been an important point as it will host the East Africa Oil Pipeline from Hoima, Uganda, to Chongoleani in Tanga region.

Since coming into power President Magufuli has emphasized on fighting graft and wasteful spending of public funds to invest the money in infrastructure and other social services.

Apart from the two mega achievements in infrastructures, news from Tanzania also reveals that the country may mark another mega milestone this July; launching the construction of Africa’s fourth largest hydropower project.