From allAfrica : The return to the skies by the national flag carrier Air Tanzania is of paramount importance to the country since it will once again open up the Dar es Salaam route.

The flag carrier was established as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) in 1977, after the dissolution of East African Airways and has been a member of the African Airlines Association since its inception.

During its heydays in 1980s, ATC had many international, regional and domestic routes and Dar es Salaam was the hub of many international carriers.

Because ATC had strong regional and domestic itineraries, a number of international airlines landed at what is now the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA)m, as it was easier to connect passengers on forward destinations.

Before privatisation of ATC regional routes included Aden, Dubai, Entebbe, Harare, Johannesburg, Kigali, Lusaka, Mombasa, Nairobi, Muscat, the Comoros, Mauritius, Bujumbura and Lubumbashi. On domestic front it flew at every major town with a sound airport.

Because of its strong regional routes, in those years carriers like Scandinavia Airlines (SAS), Alitalia, Lufthansa, Aeroflot and the like were landing in Dar es Salaam; despite the fact that the country was a closed economy.

All these international airlines pulled out of the Dar frequency due to the declined business after the ATCL went under. Thus making the Tanzania a dead-end destination.

Aviation experts here in China have it that at the current situation it will be very difficulty for an international carrier to fly the Dar es Salaam route, as there is no connection to regional nor domestic itineraries.

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