Netherlands supports expansion of Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania

TANZANIA (eTN) – With support from the Netherlands government, Tanzania will carry out an expansion project for the Kilimanjaro International Airport in the northern tourist circuit.

TANZANIA (eTN) – With support from the Netherlands government, Tanzania will carry out an expansion project for the Kilimanjaro International Airport in the northern tourist circuit.

The Netherlands government had signed an agreement this week to provide 15 million euro to support Tanzania in carrying out rehabilitation and expansion of Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Lilianne Ploumen signed the agreement in Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam and said the 15 million euro grant was for a Dutch government-funded facility for infrastructure.

The amount is 42.25 percent of the 6-year project cost, with the Tanzania government contributing the remaining 20.5 million euro, said Mrs. Saada Mkuya, Tanzania’s Finance Minister.

Upon completion, Kilimanjaro Airport will attract more international flights, hence boosting the growing tourist flow in northern Tanzania as well as cargo flower handling.

Several international airlines are now landing in northern Tanzania through Kilimanjaro Airport. These include Qatar Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Kenya Airways, and Condor German Airlines, a charter tourist carrier from Germany.

The expansion project of the airport will start this year and be completed in 2020.

The rehabilitation project will cover the aprons, taxiways, and terminal building to efficiently handle an expected increase in passengers over the coming 20 years.

The Dutch Minister is visiting Tanzania to strengthen the four-decade bilateral relations with a business delegation of over 30 Dutch companies active in oil and gas and maritime infrastructure looking for investment opportunities in the country.

Other than tourism, the Netherlands is the leading European importer of Tanzanian flowers, mostly grown in the northern Tanzania regions of Arusha and Kilimanjaro on the foothills of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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