Aviation news: Safari Plus to fly Kempinski clients to Kempinski Resorts

(eTN) – News broke last weekend that Safari Plus, a locally registered safari or charter airline, will start air operations in early 2011 with a Beechcraft 1900 and a King Air 350B. The associate company of Kempinski Hotels appears set to fly on a daily basis from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar, where the global hotel group operates the Zamani Kempinski Resort before routing on to the Serengeti where the Bilila Kempinski Lodge is located. It was not made clear if existing airlines were initially considered for a partnership to operate on behalf of the group or if Kempinski wanted to have an in-house operation in which it could control 100 percent and where quality assurance was also under their control.

While learning about this development, it was also ascertained that the visiting Vice President for Africa of Kempinski Hotels announced during his visit to Dar es Salaam that the group had plans to build another hotel in Arusha and a second resort in Zanzibar to cater for growing demand, although they did not mention plans to invest in other national parks or game reserves, where previously they were connected with the Selous for a potential new top of the range safari lodge.