Air Tanzania opens new air connection between Dar es Salaam and Seychelles
Air Tanzania Company Limited has officially opened a new route between Dar es Salaam and Seychelles, establishing a more direct air link between the East African mainland and the island destination in the Indian Ocean. The first flight was welcomed on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at Seychelles International Airport on the island of Mahé, with a ceremonial water salute by fire trucks, a customary sign of welcome for new commercial routes in air transport. The launch of the route was announced as an important step for regional connectivity, tourism, business travel and broader economic cooperation between Tanzania and Seychelles. The new route is especially interesting because it connects Dar es Salaam, one of the main transport and economic centers of East Africa, with an archipelago that builds much of its international tourism position on beaches, marine biodiversity, luxury holidays and sustainable destination management.
A route connecting safari and the Indian Ocean
In tourism terms, the new route has clear symbolism: it shortens the journey between Tanzanian safari experiences and holidays in Seychelles. Tanzania is globally recognized for its national parks, the Serengeti, the Kilimanjaro area, Ngorongoro and coastal destinations such as Zanzibar, while Seychelles is known for island holidays, beaches, protected natural areas and a tourism model that relies strongly on natural resources. More direct connectivity makes it easier to combine two types of travel: a continental itinerary with the wildlife, nature and culture of East Africa and a holiday by the Indian Ocean. For travelers planning longer regional itineraries,
accommodation in Seychelles can now be more easily incorporated into the continuation of a trip after a stay in Tanzania, without the need for more complex transfers through more distant air hubs.
According to available information from the tourism and aviation sectors, Air Tanzania will operate the route between Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam and Seychelles International Airport on Mahé three times a week, with flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The schedule published by specialized aviation sources lists flight TC242 from Dar es Salaam at 02:30, arriving on Mahé at 06:15, while return flight TC243 departs Seychelles at 07:15 and arrives in Dar es Salaam at 09:00. Aviation announcements mention the Airbus A220-300, an aircraft often used on regional and medium-haul routes, while earlier announcements in some sources also included the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The most important operational information for travelers and the tourism sector is that this is a regular, multi-day weekly connection that reduces dependence on indirect routes and third hubs.
Official welcome after an earlier postponement
The opening of the route comes after a period of inconsistent announcements and changes in the planned start of operations. Initially, the start of flights had been announced for April 1, 2026, after the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority approved Air Tanzania to operate direct flights between Dar es Salaam and Seychelles. However, the start was then postponed, and aviation and tourism portals reported that on April 7 the SCAA had announced the postponement of the planned flights until further notice. At the end of April, a new confirmation was published that Air Tanzania would launch the route on May 3, which then coincided with the ceremonial arrival of the first flight at Seychelles International Airport. This sequence of events is important because it shows that the new route was introduced through a regulatory and operational process that included approvals, a postponement and a subsequently confirmed start.
Representatives of the Tanzanian authorities also participated in the route launch ceremony. Tanzanian Minister of Transport Makame Mbarawa emphasized that the new route should serve as a bridge between the markets, people and economic opportunities of the two countries. According to him, the flights should reduce travel costs between Dar es Salaam and Seychelles and improve the accessibility of destinations for tourists and business travelers. The statement is important because it presents the route not only as a tourism product, but also as part of broader economic connectivity. Seychelles’ Principal Secretary for Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine David Bianchi also, according to Tanzanian media, assessed that the route marks a new phase of regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean and that growth in passenger traffic, tourism and cultural exchange is expected.
Seychelles seeks more stable and more diverse air connectivity
For Seychelles, air connectivity is of crucial importance because it is an island state whose tourism model relies to a large extent on international arrivals by air. The National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles states that tourism data are based on records of cross-border passenger movements, and arrivals are monitored by country of residence, purpose of visit, average length of stay, location of stay and type of accommodation. In the week that ended on April 26, 2026, 7,093 arrivals were recorded, while from the beginning of the year until then 115,227 visitors were registered, which is fewer than in the same period in 2025. This figure provides additional context for why every new direct route is important for the island economy: it can help diversify markets, reduce reliance on a limited number of departure regions and strengthen the accessibility of the destination at a time when tourist flows are changing.
The new connection with Tanzania can open additional space for Seychelles toward East African markets and travelers who already use Dar es Salaam as a transit or business point. At the same time, it can also encourage arrivals by guests from Europe, Asia, the Middle East or Africa who plan multi-country trips. In that sense,
accommodation offers on Mahé and other islands can become part of a broader tourism product that does not begin and end only in Seychelles, but connects with safari, business meetings, cultural trips or regional circular itineraries. For a destination competing in the global high-value holiday segment, an additional air link can also be important for hotel occupancy, the work of local tour operators, transfers, hospitality and other services connected with visitors’ stays.
Air Tanzania expands its regional role from Dar es Salaam
Air Tanzania Company Limited, Tanzania’s national air carrier, has in recent years been seeking to expand its network from its hub in Dar es Salaam. According to the company’s own data, Air Tanzania is a state carrier headquartered in Dar es Salaam, based at Julius Nyerere International Airport, and has been a member of the African Airlines Association since 1977, after the breakup of East African Airways. The company lists Dash 8-Q300 and Q400 aircraft, Airbus A220-300, Boeing 737 Max 9, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and cargo Boeing 767-300F in its fleet. In addition to domestic routes to Tanzanian cities and tourism centers, the company operates international and regional connections to destinations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
The inclusion of Seychelles in Air Tanzania’s network logically fits into the attempt to strengthen Dar es Salaam as an air hub that can connect domestic Tanzanian destinations, wider East Africa and the island countries of the Indian Ocean. For Tanzania, this means the possibility of keeping a larger share of tourism traffic within its own transport system, instead of passengers between safaris and beaches using distant indirect routes. For Seychelles, on the other hand, the route brings an additional regional carrier and potentially new combinations of arrivals. In market terms, success will depend on flight occupancy, pricing policy, cooperation with travel agencies, schedule stability and the ability of the two destinations to jointly sell combined packages.
Economic effects beyond tourism
Although the new route is most often described through the prism of tourism, its potential is not limited only to holidays. Direct flights can facilitate business travel, official visits, educational and cultural exchanges and faster contact between companies and institutions. Minister Mbarawa spoke precisely about connecting markets and economic opportunities, which points to a broader intention to use the air route as an instrument of economic diplomacy and regional integration. Connectivity between mainland Tanzania and Seychelles can also be important for trade niches, logistics of smaller shipments, event-related tourism, sports competitions, conferences and professional gatherings.
At the same time, the sustainability of the route will not be guaranteed by the ceremonial opening alone. Regional air transport in Africa often faces high operating costs, regulatory differences, sensitivity to fuel prices, seasonality of demand and strong competition from established carriers that direct traffic through large hubs. For that reason, it will be important for Air Tanzania to secure enough passengers in both directions, and not only during peak tourist periods. If the route proves reliable, it could become a corridor that connects not only two points on the map, but also wider tourism value chains in East Africa and the Indian Ocean.
A new opportunity for multi-destination travel
The concept of multi-destination travel is increasingly important in global tourism because travelers crossing long distances often want to combine several experiences in one trip. In the African context, the combination of safari and beach is already an established product, but the quality of air connectivity often determines how practical, expensive and time-feasible such an itinerary is. The direct Dar es Salaam – Mahé route can reduce travel time and make the combination of Tanzania and Seychelles simpler for agencies, individual travelers and organizers of luxury packages. This is especially true for trips that include a stay in the Serengeti, arrival in Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar, and then continuation toward Seychelles and
accommodation near beaches on Mahé or other islands.
For Seychelles, such a combination is useful because it positions the destination not only as a final holiday destination, but also as part of a broader African route. For Tanzania, it is useful because it can increase the attractiveness of arrivals via Dar es Salaam and strengthen the role of the domestic carrier in higher value-added tourism. Success, however, will depend on the alignment of schedules with arrivals from other cities, the availability of competitive prices, promotion in international markets and the quality of the airport experience. Travelers combining multiple destinations are especially sensitive to delays, complicated transfers and unclear information, so operational reliability will be just as important as the very fact that the new route exists.
A signal of regional integration in the Indian Ocean
The launch of the route between Dar es Salaam and Seychelles comes at a time when African and island destinations are seeking to increase mutual connectivity, rather than relying exclusively on connections via Europe, the Middle East or large global air hubs. In political and economic terms, such routes contribute to the idea of stronger regional integration: people, services and capital can move more easily if direct and predictable transport channels exist. In tourism, this is even more visible because an air route often determines whether a certain combination of destinations will appear at all in agency programs and on the market.
The ceremonial welcome at Seychelles International Airport was therefore not only a protocol moment for one airline. It was a signal that two destinations see room for deeper cooperation in tourism, transport and the economy. If Air Tanzania maintains a stable schedule, if demand proves strong enough and if the tourism sectors of both countries succeed in developing joint products, the Dar es Salaam – Seychelles route could grow into an important link between the East African mainland and the island tourism of the Indian Ocean. Otherwise, as with every new air route, its future will depend on the market, operational discipline and the ability for a ceremonial opening to grow into long-term sustainable traffic.
Sources:- Daily News Tanzania – report on the official launch of Air Tanzania’s direct flights from Dar es Salaam to Seychelles and statements by the Tanzanian Minister of Transport (link)- eTurboNews – report on the first flight, ceremonial welcome at the airport in Seychelles and tourism significance of the new route (link)- Travelnews – confirmation of the start of the route on May 3, 2026, information on the earlier postponement and the schedule of flights TC242 and TC243 (link)- AeroRoutes – Air Tanzania’s operational schedule for the Dar es Salaam – Mahé route, including frequency and aircraft type (link)- Seychelles Nation – announcement on the regulatory approval of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority for Air Tanzania flights to Seychelles (link)- National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles – official data on tourist arrivals and the methodology of Seychelles tourism statistics (link)- National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles, Tourism – explanation of indicators monitored in tourism, including arrivals, length of stay and accommodation statistics (link)- Air Tanzania – official information about the company, fleet, headquarters and destination network of Tanzania’s national carrier (link)
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