October 13, 2008 20:10 PM
By Samantha Tan Chiew Teng
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- Tanzania's Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) is hoping for Malaysia Airlines to operate at the airport due to an increasing number of tourists from Asia Pacific to the country.
Its director Faraja Makasi said the airport was meeting with Malaysia Airlines representatives tomorrow and would try to convince the national carrier to fly to Tanzania due to its attractive destination and investment opportunities.
"Even if Malaysia Airlines is not yet interested to fly to Tanzania but at least, they can put us in their planning agenda based on the JNIA traffic growth," she told Bernama at the sidelines of the 14th World Route Development Forum (Routes KL 2008) here Monday.
JNIA, operated by Tanzania Airports Authority, has experienced a growth in traffic from 0.5 million passengers in 2001 to 1.5 million last year due to its marketing strategy of promoting Tanzania as a tourism destination.
Saying that the airport had seen 15 percent growth in traffic annually, Makasi said based on the growth from the Asian region to Tanzania, JNIA hoped to convince Malaysia Airlines to start looking at flying to the country.
Currently, Malaysia Airlines flies to Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Makasi also urged Malaysians to look at investment opportunities at Tanzania as its government was offering several incentives to attract investors.
Among investment opportunities highlighted in Tanzania are tourism, mining, servicing industry and agriculture sector (sisal, cotton, cashew nuts, coffee, tea and vegetables).
JNIA is the principal airport serving Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania. Among the airlines currently operating at JNIA are Air India, British Airways, Emirates, Qatar Airways and KLM-Royal Dutch Air.
According to Makasi, JNIA expects arrivals at the airport to increase to five million in 10 years and more flights by airlines will provide better accessibility to passengers for both tourism and investment purposes.
She said despite the current tough period, JNIA was still experiencing a positive trend with 13 percent growth in traffic so far.
"This year, our forecast is 1.6 million passengers while it's 1.75 million passengers for 2009," she added.
Makasi also said World Cup 2010 to be held in South Africa would also benefit the airport as heavy traffic was expected.
She said JNIA was ready to serve as an alternative airport to support the heavy traffic.
Source: BERNAMA
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