Tanzania to upgrade 10 airports in infrastructure project

Tanzania is refurbishing and upgrading 10 regional airports in a $67.5 million infrastructure project set to kick off before the end of 2011.

The project will also feature the completion of the modernisation of Julius Nyerere International Airport to enable it to handle more than 30 planes per hour, up from the current 11 planes an hour beginning July 2012.

Transport Minister Omari Nundu said the airports will be built in Kigoma and Tabora regions in the westy, Rukwa and Mbeya regions in the southern highland, Mafia district (Coastal), Msalato (Dodoma) Singida, Mwanza (Arusha) and Bukoba (Kagera).

“The construction of the airports will improve infrastructure, helping the aviation industry meet the uincreased demand,” he said.

Despite attractions such as the Serengeti game park, Mt Kilimanjaro, and the sea resort of Zanzibar, Tanzania has not hit tourism targets due to poor infrastructure and other factors. For example, 794,000 tourists visited Tanzania in 2010, against a one-million tourists target, although earnings increased by 11 per cent during the period to $1.28 billion.

This has seen mining overtake tourism as the country’s leading foreign exchange earner. Officials said the initial plan was completed last year while the feasibility study has been presented to the World Bank for approval.

Construction of Songwe International Airport in Mbeya Region is going on, and is to be completed by December. The Tanzania Airports Authority has completed a feasibility study and design for Msalato Airport in Dodoma. The government has kicked off a compensation plan for the residents who will be affected by the projects.

Finance Minister Mustafa Mkulo said the government was in discussions with development partners as well as the Arab Bank for African Development and African Development Bank for a $105 million loan for the construction of Msalato International Airport. The government has set aside $650,000 in the 2011/2012 budget for the same project. Terminal I and II of the Julius Nyerere Airport are currently undergoing expansion under a $56 million programme.

This should help ease congestion at the airport. The two terminals were designed to handle 1.2 million passengers a year, but are now handling up to 1.5 million passengers.

Upon completion of Terminal III within the same area, the Julius Nyerere International Airport will have the capacity to handle seven million passengers a year.

According to the airport’s masterplan, it will be the largest and busiest international hub in the region, partly symbolised by TAA’s plan to launch an ambitious export processing zone project to stimulate manufacturing and production of value-added goods, boost exports, and aid in the financing of airport maintenance and upgrading.