Uganda Safaris News: Mountain Gorilla Trekking Tours, Wildlife Safari, Primates Tour

By Nakiboneka Halimah
Uganda Safari and Travel News Reporter
Kampala Uganda

British Airways (BA), one of the world’s leading airlines has got strong plans of promoting Tanzania’s tourism sector by launching a new route to Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA).

The BA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Willie Walsh, said has that due to the increasing number of tourists in
Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions, plans are in the pipeline for the airline to start a direct flight to the region, blessed to have the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro.

He further explained that introducing a direct flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) will give them an opportunity to promote Tanzania’s tourism in the world, since there is a high tourist demand in Kilimanjaro. This will not only promote Tanzania’s tourism sector but also other East African countries including Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.

This will help promote tourism in East Africa as well  beacuse tour operators especially those in Uganda for example Abacus African Vacations and Adventure Trails Limited offer combined safaris to their toursits which include visiting the  tourist sites such as national parks, game reserves, mountains for example Mt. Elgon, Mt.Rwenzori, Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Virungas Mountain.

Currently, the Dutch airline, KLM flies daily to Kilimanjaro International Airport en route to Dar es Salaam. Another airline, which flies into KIA, is Ethiopian Airline.The new route will also help to lift flowers from Kilimanjaro and Arusha to the European Union (EU). Today, stakeholders in the flower sub-sector export flowers to the EU markets via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Meanwhile, Walsh who was in Tanzania also commended the ‘Change for Good’ programme in Tanzania for bringing a positive impact on the communities in the areas where it has been implemented. He was in the country to mark the 14th anniversary of the programme, which was launched in partnership with British Airways and UNICEF way back in 1994. The celebrations were also attended by UNICEF’s UK executive director, David Bull.

Since its inauguration, the programme has collected 25 million pound sterling (Tsh55 billion), which has been used to fund vital UNICEF projects in 55 countries worldwide and under the programme, passengers aboard BA planes donate small amounts of money (change), which is used to fund projects initiated by UNICEF.