Dar es Salaam — Tanzania yesterday reopened its airspace to both scheduled and non-scheduled international flights following its closure last month in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The decision came a day after President John Magufuli directed Works, Transport and Communication minister Isack Kamwelwe and his Tourism counterpart Hamisi Kigwangalla to allow aircraft to come into the country from outside.
"As long as their body tem-peratures don’t point to anything unusual, I will allow them to proceed and view Tanzania’s wildlife without being quarantined," said Dr Magufuli.
In a swift response, Mr Kamwelwe said commercial passenger flights, diplomatic flights, aircraft in emergency and operations related to humanitarian aid, medical and relief would be allowed into Tanzania without any restrictions.
"I direct the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority to inform Icao (International Civil Aviation Organisation) about the decision, and ensure that the directive is fully implemented," he said.
Mr Kamwelwe also directed the Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) and Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (Kadco) to ensure they were well prepared to handle flights into Tanzania.
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