Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Swiss still regard Tanzania as their preferred destination, Switzerland Ambassador to Tanzania Didier Chassot has said.
According to envoy, the decision to introduce a direct flight from Zurich to the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) attested to the fact that Tanzania was an attractive country to the Swiss people.
“We are very happy that a Swiss airline is again connecting Switzerland and Tanzania directly, it shows how highly attractive Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar remains for Swiss people,” explained the diplomat shortly after receiving the Edelweiss Airbus A340.
Mr Chassot also attributed the inaugural flight to the growing confidence in the efforts by the country to address the challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic with the necessary resolve and transparency.
The Edelweiss Airbus touched down at KIA on Saturday morning in its maiden flight to the country, with 270 passengers on board.
It was treated to the tradi- tional water salute by the airport’s fire engines that stood parallel to the plane.
It later flew to Zanzibar with ten passengers who were on a mission of sampling the spicy island.
Edelweiss will be flying from Zurich to Kilimanjaro and on to Zanzibar every Tuesday and Friday from now until the end of March.
The route will be operated with an Airbus A340.
The aircraft offers a total of 314 seats, 27 in Business Class, 76 in Economy Max and 211 in Economy.
Edelweiss is already the second airline of the Lufthansa Group to connect Europe di- rectly with Tanzania.
Edelweiss is Switzerland’s leading leisure travel airline and flies to the most beautiful destinations in the world.
It is a sister company of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and a member of the Lufthansa Group.
Eurowings Discover, another airline owned by the group, has already started flights from Frankfurt to Zanzibar on July 24 2021 and serves the destination twice a week.
