Given its huge presence in other long-haul markets such as Asia and North America, it would be easy to consider Africa to be something of a forgotten continent as far as British Airways’ intercontinental operations are concerned. However, the UK flag carrier and oneworld founding member just took an interesting step to rectify this by announcing that a new one-stop African route will be launching in 2027.

Indeed, as of next May, British Airways will operate a triangular service that originates at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and serves two destinations in Tanzania: Kilimanjaro (JRO) and Zanzibar (ZNZ). In this article, we will take a closer look at BA’s wider African network and how this new route will fit into it, while also examining the growing importance of Tanzania as a long-haul market for European airlines.

One Route, Two Destinations

Credit: Great Circle Map

British Airways confirmed in a statement that it released yesterday that its Tanzanian triangular route will commence operations on May 29, 2027. These flights will operate three times a week throughout the summer until October 31, with BA noting that they are especially well suited to flyers looking to travel in the school holidays. Numbered as BA2163, the first leg will leave London at 9:05 AM local time.

Its arrival at Kilimanjaro is timed for 8:20 PM local time, with the flight continuing with the same aircraft and flight number at 9:20 PM. It will arrive in Zanzibar at 10:25 PM, and, after two hours on the ground, the third and final leg of this flight, which will use the Boeing 777-200ER, will take off at 12:25 AM the next day and reach Gatwick at 7:55 AM. Neil Chernoff, BA’s Chief Planning and Strategy Officer, said:

“We’re excited to be launching flights to two exceptional new destinations. (…) These new routes strengthen our footprint in East Africa and open the door to some of the world’s most extraordinary travel experiences.”

Tanzania Is An Increasingly Important Destination For European Airlines

Credit: British Airways

British Airways is far from the only European airline that sees the value in flying to Tanzania. In fact, current scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that several others are also serving the country with similar triangular routes this month. For instance, Air France flies to Kilimanjaro via Zanzibar, while KLM serves Dar Es Salaam (DAR) via the same mountain gateway,

Elsewhere, Kilimanjaro is also the stopover of choice on the way to Zanzibar from Milan Malpensa (MXP) for Italian leisure carrier Neos. Elsewhere, while the carrier flies nonstop to Zanzibar from Rome (FCO), these flights stop on the way home in Bari (BRI) or Catania (CTA) to serve a wider spread of Italy’s population. Turkish Airlines from Istanbul also stops at Kilimanjaro on the way to Zanzibar and vice versa.

Air Tanzania itself also has a small European footprint, flying three times a week from Dar Es Salaam to Moscow Vnukovo Airport (VKO) in Russia and back via Zanzibar. Going forward, the Tanzanian flag carrier also reportedly plans to increase its presence in Europe, with Wanderlust Magazine reporting that it is eyeing flights to and from London Gatwick Airport in July 2027. These would use the Boeing 787.

British Airways’ Other African Routes

Credit: Andres FL | Shutterstock

As detailed in the interactive map that is embedded below, British Airways serves an interesting variety of routes to Africa from both London Gatwick Airport (blue) and London Heathrow Airport (red-orange). 391 African departures are planned from London this month: 105 from Gatwick and 286 from Heathrow. From the former, British Airways serves Accra, Algiers, Marrakesh, Mauritius, and Rabat.

Of these routes, Marrakesh is the only one to be served more than daily on average, with ten flights a week. Meanwhile, guests flying out of Heathrow can expect services to Abuja, Accra, Cairo, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos, Marrakesh, and Nairobi. Here, the top routes are Cairo and Johannesburg, with two flights a day in each direction. The latter is BA’s only African route served by the Airbus A380.