Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United
Arab Emirates, will expand its African route network with the launch of a daily
service to Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania.
Flights between Abu Dhabi and Dar es Salaam, which
will official starts on 1 December, 2015 will be operated by using Airbus A320
aircraft with 16 Business Class and 120 Economy Class seats.
Dar es Salaam will be Etihad Airways’ 110th
destination globally, and its 11th destination in Africa and the Indian Ocean.
The daily schedule will offer two-way connectivity
over Etihad Airways’ hub in Abu Dhabi, with convenient onward connections to 45
popular destinations across the Middle East, Europe, the Indian Subcontinent,
North and Southeast Asia, and Australia.
In particular, it is anticipated that the demand for
the new route will be boosted by strong flows of business and leisure travelers
as well as cargo volumes between the East Africa region and the Indian Sub continent
and China.
James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of
Etihad Airways, said: “Dar es Salaam is an important new route on Etihad
Airways’ global network.
It builds upon our existing presence in Africa, and
supports the close trading relationship between the United Arab Emirates and
Tanzania.”
Speaking to reporters in a news conference during
the launching of its new office of Etihad Airways in Dar es Salaam.
The UAE is the primary trade partner of Tanzania in
the East African region and between 2007 and 2012, trade between UAE and
Tanzania increased by more than 350 per cent to US$761 million.
“Africa has one of the world’s fastest growing regional economies, and the launch of this new route also enhances access and the two-way flow of trade and tourism between the continent and key destinations across our global network, supports inbound tourism, encourages investment, and provides much needed local employment,” he added.
Tanzania has the sixth largest population in Africa
(51 million), with over four million people living in the largest city, Dar es
Salaam.
The large proportion of the community consist of
market traders and proprietors of small businesses whose families originated
from the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent—areas of the world with which the
settlements of the Tanzanian coast have had long-standing trading relations.
The country is also developing quickly, and
currently has around US$19 billion in transport and utilities infrastructure
projects being planned.
China is playing a key role in financing these major
projects, and is fast becoming the East African country’s leading trade
partner, with trade between the two countries growing to US$3.7 billion in
2013.
In 2013, Tanzania was also named one of the world’s
most sought after destinations for leisure travelers, and is blessed with
numerous national and international tourist attractions including Mt.
Kilimanjaro, he wildlife-rich national parks of the Serengeti, and the spice
island of Zanzibar.
Tanzania has the second largest economy in East
Africa, and Dar es Salaam provides a strategic gateway for the transportation
of goods and commerce to the surrounding six land-locked countries of Zambia,
Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
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