Kilimanjaro International Airport

Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) (IATA: JRO, ICAO: HTKJ) is in Hai District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. The airport serves the cities of Arusha and Moshi. The airport handled 802,731 passengers in 2014^[1] and serves mainly regional flights, and a few long-haul services due to its importance as a leisure destination. It is the largest airport in northern Tanzania by size and passenger volume.

Kilimanjaro International Airport
IATA: JRO ICAO: HTKJ WMO: 63791
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner/Operator	TAA
Serves	Moshi, Kilimanjaro Region and Arusha, Arusha Region
Location	Hai District, Kilimanjaro
Elevation AMSL	2,932 ft / 894 m
Coordinates	03°25′46″S 37°04′28″E
Website	kilimanjaroairport.go.tz
Map
JRO Location of Kilimanjaro International Airport. Show map of Tanzania JRO JRO (Africa) Show map of Africa JRO JRO (Earth) Show map of Earth
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 09/27 3,600 11,811 Asphalt
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 780,800[1] Aircraft movements 19,758 Cargo (tonnes) 3,203
Source: TAA[2]

Overview

The passenger boarding gate area

Many international visitors also go to national parks in Tanzania, to the Indian Ocean coast, to islands such as Zanzibar, and to Lake Victoria, reflected in the routes of connecting flights. With a runway almost 12,000 feet (3,700 m) long, the airport can handle aircraft as large as Boeing 747s and Antonov 124s.^[3] The airport served 665,147 passengers in 2012, a 3.7 percent increase over 2011.^[4] The airport served 802,731 passengers in 2014, of whom 45 percent were international, 38 percent domestic, and 17 percent transit.^[1]

On 19 February 2014, the governments of Tanzania and the Netherlands signed a grant arrangement to rehabilitate the airport, including its aprons, taxiways, and terminal building. The total cost of the project was expected to be €35.5 million, with €15.0 million funded by the Netherlands and the remainder by Tanzania. The design phase, completed by 2014, was financed entirely by the Dutch government.^[5] In November 2015, renovations began at the airport, aimed at doubling its capacity from 600,000 passengers to 1.2 million annually. The renovation work was being done by BAM International, a subsidiary of the Royal BAM Group in the Netherlands, at a cost of US$39.7 million, and was expected to be completed in May 2017.^[1]

History

Kilimanjaro Airport cost US$13 million to build. It opened on 2 December 1971, with construction financed by a long-term loan from the Italian government.^[6]

In 1998, it became the first international airport in Africa to be privatised. It is operated by the Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company.^[3]

The airport facilitates the tourism industry for visitors travelling to four regions: Arusha Region, Kilimanjaro Region, Mara Region and Manyara Region. Attractions in the regions include Mount Kilimanjaro National Park, Arusha National Park, Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Serengeti National Park. The airport bills itself as the "Gateway to Africa's Wildlife Heritage".^[3]

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines maintain regular, scheduled passenger and cargo service to and from Kilimanjaro International Airport.^[7][8]

Airlines	Destinations
Air France	Paris–Charles de Gaulle[9]
Airkenya Express	Nairobi–Wilson
Air Tanzania	Dar es Salaam, Entebbe,[10] Zanzibar
Coastal Aviation	Arusha, Lake Manyara, Mwanza, Seronera, Zanzibar
Discover Airlines	Frankfurt
Edelweiss Air	Zurich
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa
flydubai	Dubai–International[11]
Kenya Airways	Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta[12]
KLM	Amsterdam1
Precision Air	Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Mwanza, Nairobi–Jomo Kenyatta, Zanzibar
Qatar Airways	Doha2
Regional Air Services	Arusha, Lake Manyara
RwandAir	Kigali
Safarilink Aviation	Nairobi–Wilson
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul[13]
Uganda Airlines	Entebbe[14]

Notes:
¹: KLM's outbound flights from Kilimanjaro to Amsterdam make a stop in Dar es Salaam. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam.
²: Qatar Airways' outbound flights from Kilimanjaro to Doha make a stop in Dar es Salaam. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam.

Accidents and incidents

On 18 December 2013, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 (ET-AQW) flying from Addis Ababa to Kilimanjaro International Airport (runway length 11,811 feet) mistakenly landed at Arusha Municipal Field (runway length 6,102 feet), overrunning the end of the runway^[15]