Zanzibar to construct fourth airport terminal building

The plan comes almost eight months after official opening of third terminal which has with the capacity of handling about 1.6 million travellers annually.

Official sources says Terminal 3 building was constructed at a cost of $120 million.

Zanzibar Minister for Infrastructure, Communication, and Transport Dr Khalid Mohamed Salum, said recently the feasibility study is underway and is expected to take three months.

“We have already started the feasibility study, by January we may have finished.

“Terminal 3 at the airport has started to be overcrowded and that is why we have started the process,” he said.

Terminal 3 is used for international flights and was estimated to serve 1.6 million people annually, but now it has reached 1.4 million people annually, with hope that it may surpass the target.

“Due to increasing in the number of tourists, holidaymakers, and other visitors, we are almost beating the 1.6 million travellers’ target. We have quickly noticed that we need another larger space to handle more planes and travellers,” said Mr Salum.

However, speaking last week at the official opening of customer care services training for all staff operating at the AAKIA, he said the move is geared to meet the demand of growing number of visitors.

He said that the ongoing reforms at the international airport, spiced by the top leaders; President Samia Suluhu Hassan through the ‘Royal Tour Documentary’ has enabled the airport to have an increase of visitors using it and has resulted in a significant increase in revenue from Sh2 billion to Sh6.7 billion in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

There still remains huge controversy around the handling of the tender to handle ground services at the airport. 

Tanzania air operators say over 600 workers are set to lose their jobs after the semi-autonomous government of Zanzibar awarded a Dubai-based company exclusive rights to handle ground services at a refurbished airport.