Zanzibar Airport

Zanzibar Airport

Zanzibar Airport (  Uwanja wa Ndege Wa Kinataifa Wa Abeid Amani Karune in Swahili) also known as Abeid Amani Karume International Airport is the main airport  of Zanzibar Archipelago, the airport is owned by the Government of Zanzibar. Zanzibar formerly known as Kisauni Airport is a public airport located in Unguja Island approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) south of Zanzibar City and is connecting to the city by Nyerere Road, the capital of Zanzibar.

Zanzibar airport was renamed Abeid Amani Karune International Airport in 2010 in honour of Abeid Amani Karuma  who is the first president of Zanzibar Island, the airport uses the following codes.

• IATA – ZNZ
• ICAO – HTZA

Zanzibar Airport’s South approach and departures are over the water, the Zanzibar VOR-DME (ident: ZV) is located 0.4 nautical miles (741 m) off the south end of the runway. The Zanzibar non-directional beacon (ident: ZZ) is located on the field.

Terminals at Zanzibar Airport

Zanzibar Airport has 3 terminals namely Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. Two of these terminals (Terminal 2 and Terminal 3) are active. Terminal 3 was officially opened in October of 2020 following several years of delay.

Terminal 1

Terminal1 at Zanzibar Airport is an inactive terminal that was used during the time the British colonialists governed the Island in the islets, this terminal is a small building found in the northern side of terminal 2 and is currently used as the airport office.

Terminal 2

Terminal 2 at Zanzibar Airport is an active terminal for all landing craft for domestic flights, the terminal is a new shelter situated on the entrance of the airport.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3 is a newly constructed terminal at Zanzibar Airport officially opened in October of 2020, the construction of this terminal started in January of 2011 by the Chinese Beijing Construction Engineering Group. The new terminal is of 100,000 square meters replaced a 21,000 square meters terminal. The whole project took an estimated cost of about US$70.4 million.

This terminal was projected to start its operations in 2014, but its construction this terminal was delayed for years due to financial and technical reasons

Terminal 3 handles international flights, this terminal serves approximately 1.5 million passengers per year, in this terminal you will find departures (check in) on the left and Arrivals (Baggage Claim) on the right. The security check and boarding gates can be found on the first floor.

Airlines and Destinations At Zanzibar Airport

Zanzibar Airport is a hub for ZanAir, the main airlines operating at Zanzibar Airport include

• Ethiopian Airline
• Fly540
• Lufthansa
• KLM
• Condor

Zanzibar Airport has flights to East Africa, Europe and the Middle East, other airlines operating at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (Zanzibar) include

Cargo Airlines operating at Zanzibar Airport

There are 3 cargo airlines operating at Zanzibar Airport , these airlines include

Baggage handling at Zanzibar Airport

At Zanzibar airport, porters are available at the terminal entrance to assist travellers who are departing and arriving on the Island, these porters are available around the baggage reclaim carousels to help you carry the luggage at the airport at an extra charge.

There are also trolleys around the airport for you to use for free, baggage wrapping is also done in Zanzibar airport and it is done at terminal 1 and terminal 3.

Travel documents needed at Zanzibar Airport

Like other airports, the following travel documents are required at Zanzibar airport and they include

• Valid passport
• Completed disembarkation/embarkation cards
• Entry Visa and
• Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificate

Other airports located near Zanzibar Island

There are several Tanzania airports located near Zanzibar and these include Dar es Salaam airport, Pemba airport, Tanga airport, Mafia airport among others.