MSEMBE Airstrip within the Ruaha National Park has been nominated for a poll among the most stunning approach to landing.
Tanzania is once again shining internationally, specifically in aviation infrastructure, after the government and her semi-autonomous institutions made significant efforts to build or refurbish some infrastructure.
The country’s national parks have been cited as among the best in tourism.
A statement released by PrivateFly, a regularly featured ex pert source of information and insight about the private jet industry, says voting is currently open in the 2020 Scenic Airports poll and it remains open until March 15 this year when some airports will be crowned the most scenic in each region.
“We have shortlisted airports that have proved popular in previous polls– ranging from iconic cityscapes, to island and coastal approaches, to mountain top runways,” the statement said.
Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) Senior Assistant Conservation Commissioner for Communications, Pascal Shelutete urged Tanzanians to tap the opportunity in voting for Msembe Airstrip so as to take Ruaha to next level in tourism attractions for users of the airports.
“May you come up in huge numbers and vote as per directives on the website because coming out on the top will make Ruaha National Park more famous and attractive in the world and, hence, increase the number of foreign tourists in the park and country generally,” Shelutete said.
The International Civil Aviation O rganisation (ICAO ) refers Msembe Airstrip in Ruaha National Park, Iringa Region, with a code ‘HTMR’.
The ICAO codes are also used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations, International Flight Service Stations or Area Control Centres, whether or not they are located at airports. Flight information regions are also identified by a unique ICAO -code.
Ruaha is in the Southern Zone of TANAPA and is the largest National Park in Tanzania covering an area of 20,226 square kilometres, located in south-central Tanzania.
Because of its size, Ruaha is in a unique position to be able to continue uninterrupted as it has always been an untouched, pristine eco-system, which, in today’s worlds is not only something rare, but also special.
During the dry season when game viewing is at its best, animals are drawn to the Great Ruaha River and other water sources.
The sand rivers (Mwagusi and the Mdonya rivers among others), which are now dry, have underground water reserves that the elephants know about. So often, one can see the elephants digging holes to obtain this sweet water, which is also used by other creatures.
Ruaha National Park enjoys only one rainy season, usually from the end of November to May. The average rainfall in Ruaha varies from 500mm around the Msembe HQ area in the Rift Valley, to 800mm in the western high plateau area of the Park.
Rainfall plays a huge role in the ecology of the Park which is reflected in the vegetation and the movement of animals.
This year the contesting airports in the PrivateFly Scenic Airports 2020 Polls have been listed in three regions, going by their respective continents and Msimbe Airstrip falls under region category five– that is Africa & the Middle East.
Others are Europe, North America, Central & South America & the Caribbean, Asia and Australasia. Other airports competing with Msimbe Airstrip are Abeid Amani Karume International Airport in Zanzibar, Tanzania; Bar Yehuda Airfield in Israel, Bazaruto Island Airport at Indigo Bay Lodge in Mozambique and Cape Town International Airport in South Africa.
In the same competition for the region are Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, Morocco, Dubai International Airport in the U nited Arab Emirates, Virginia Airport in Durban, South Africa, Muscat International Airport in Oman, Amilcar Cabral International Airport in Cape Verde, Sharm El Sheikh International Airport in Egypt, Skukuza Airport in South Africa and Praslin Island Airport in Seychelles.
In 2019, Top 10 Scenic Airports were Donegal Airport (Ireland), Barra Airport (Scotland), Nice Airport (France), O rlando Melbourne International Airport (U SA), St Maarten (Netherlands Antilles), Saba Airport (Netherlands Antilles), Queenstown Airport (New Zealand), Toronto Billy Bishop (Canada), London City Airport (England) and Aosta Airport in Italy.
