British Airways has announced a return to Tanzania after a 15-year absence, unveiling new direct flights to Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar that are set to begin in the summer of 2027.
The airline confirmed that the new triangle service will operate three times a week — on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays — connecting London Gatwick to Kilimanjaro International Airport before continuing on to Zanzibar and returning directly to Gatwick. Flights are scheduled to launch on May 29, 2027 and run through the end of October that year, positioning the route as a seasonal service tailored to the peak safari and beach holiday period.
Under the new schedule, the Gatwick-to-Kilimanjaro leg is expected to depart in the evening and arrive the same night, with a short layover before the aircraft continues on to Zanzibar. The return leg to London is scheduled as an overnight flight, landing at Gatwick the following morning. The service will be operated under a single flight number for all three sectors, a configuration airlines typically use for routes that combine multiple destinations on one rotation.
The move marks British Airways’ first scheduled service to Tanzania in over a decade and comes at a time when several international carriers have been reassessing long-haul routing options, with East Africa’s tourism corridors drawing renewed interest as an alternative to routes that pass through more volatile regions. Kilimanjaro, gateway to Mount Kilimanjaro and the northern safari circuit, and Zanzibar, prized for its beaches and Stone Town heritage site, are both major draws for European holidaymakers, and industry watchers say the addition of a direct British carrier could give Tanzania’s tourism sector a meaningful lift.
Seats on the new route are already bookable, including reward seats for frequent flyer members, split across business, premium economy and economy cabins. Tanzanian tourism authorities are expected to welcome the development as part of wider efforts to diversify the country’s international air links beyond the handful of carriers currently serving Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar directly.
The announcement adds Tanzania back onto British Airways’ African network map alongside its existing services to Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, Cape Town and Johannesburg, reinforcing London’s role as a key gateway between Europe and East Africa’s tourism industry.