Air Tanzania will launch direct flights to Nairobi, Bujumbura and Lubumbashi in November, stepping up competition for Kenya Airways, which also serves these routes.

The national carrier recently acquired two Airbus A220-300 aircraft, raising its fleet of A220s to four, boosting its plan to introduce more international routes.

The airline will operate two daily flights from its Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to the Kenyan capital Nairobi starting November 26.

“Last week, we brought in two new flights that were received in Zanzibar, namely Airbus 220-300 with a capacity of 132 passengers and take-off weight of 68.9 tonnes. They also have entertainment segments for both adults and children,” Josephat Kagirwa, the airline’s spokesperson, told journalists on Wednesday.

The airline will fly to Burundi starting November 8. It will also operate three flights a week to Ndola in Zambia and the eastern DR Congo city of Lubumbashi, respectively, from November 18.

On the domestic routes, Air Tanzania says it will add a Dar to Mwanza flight with a loop to the capital Dodoma from November 5.

The carrier will also resume three flights a week to Mtwara from November 10. Flights on the southeastern coast city had been suspended to allow for airport maintenance.

Air Tanzania currently operates 12 domestic routes, namely Zanzibar, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Geita, Bukoba, Kigoma, Mpanda, Mbeya, Tabora, Dodoma, and Songea.

On the international routes, the airline flies to Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Comoros in the continent, and Mumbai, India, and Guangzhou, China.

Kenya Airways has at least four daily flights to Dar es Salaam, five to Entebbe, four to Lusaka and at least one daily flight to Livingstone (Zambia). KQ also flies to two other cities in Zambia.