British Airways Will Fly Gatwick to Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar Starting May 2027

British Airways Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar flights start May 29, 2027, and they’re adding two new destinations in Tanzania in one shot. Starting May 29, 2027, BA will fly three times a week from London-Gatwick to Kilimanjaro and then on to Zanzibar, with the season running through October 31, 2027. The flights are scheduled on a Boeing 777.

These new Tanzania flights are part of a wider summer 2027 schedule that also brings a Heathrow to Buenos Aires, Argentina nonstop continuing to Santiago, Chile, a dedicated daily Rio de Janeiro, Brazil flight, and year-round service to San José, Costa Rica. What an update. So many more non-rev options for us 🙂

The interesting part for anyone flying standby is not the destinations as they are served by other carriers. It is the way the route is built. One airplane serves both cities on a triangle, and that changes how you plan your trip home. This is pretty typical for European carriers going to other continents. You can see it all over Africa and South America.

How does the BA2163 triangle routing work?

The airplane does not fly out and back the same way. It leaves Gatwick for Kilimanjaro, continues to Zanzibar, and then flies nonstop from Zanzibar back to Gatwick. All three legs carry the same flight number, BA2163.

All times are local and subject to change. Flying time works out to 9 hours 15 minutes from Gatwick to Kilimanjaro, 1 hour 5 minutes across to Zanzibar, and 9 hours 30 minutes from Zanzibar back to Gatwick.

Is the Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar leg a fifth freedom flight?

No. A fifth freedom flight carries passengers between two foreign countries on a service that begins or ends in the airline’s home country. Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar are both in Tanzania, so that middle leg is a domestic hop inside one country. And if the airline carries anyone for revenue on that flight it’s called cabotage unless it’s approved by the local government.

What should non-revs know before listing for this flight?

If you get bumped, how do you get out of Tanzania?

Three flights a week means missing one can cost you two or three days. This is the part to look at before you leave home, because Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar are very different airports once you need a way out. You can use my Flight Loads application to check OA loads.

Leaving Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro receives more long-haul flights than it sends. KLM, Air France, Brussels Airlines, Neos and Edelweiss Air all fly in from Europe, but their northbound flights leave from Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam, which is exactly the pattern British Airways is using. These are the airlines with departures out of Kilimanjaro.

Own metal only. Codeshares are not included.

Practically, that gives you three ways to get out of the country on one airplane: Turkish to Istanbul, Ethiopian to Addis Ababa, and Qatar to Doha. All three connect onward to the United States. Everything else means a short hop to Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam or Nairobi first.

Leaving Zanzibar

Zanzibar is the better airport to be stuck. It has a much deeper list of departures, including a long list of European leisure flights.

Condor flies Frankfurt to Zanzibar, and Discover Airlines operates the Zanzibar to Frankfurt direction, so Frankfurt works in both directions on Lufthansa Group metal. Several of the European routes here are leisure-season services, so check the specific date you need rather than assuming the airline flies year-round.

The Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam hop is flown by a long list of carriers and takes well under an hour. If nothing at Zanzibar is working, Dar es Salaam is the best pool of long-haul options in the country.

Repositioning to Dar es Salaam

Dar is a short hop from Zanzibar on Air Tanzania, Precision Air, Coastal Aviation, Auric Air, Air Excel, Flightlink and Kenya Airways. Here’s the part most people miss: KLM, flydubai, Oman Air and RwandAir also fly that same hop as part of their own routings, so the seat you need may be on a wide-body that is continuing on anyway. Get yourself to Dar and the map opens right up.

Emirates is the one to circle. Dar to Dubai puts you on a carrier with a long list of U.S. gateways, and neither Kilimanjaro nor Zanzibar can offer that on its own. Qatar to Doha, Turkish to Istanbul, Ethiopian to Addis Ababa and KLM to Amsterdam do the same job through their own hubs. That’s five different ways home out of one airport, which is exactly why Dar is worth the 20 minute hop.

The bush operators, and why they matter on a safari trip

Both airports also connect to the safari circuit on small local carriers, and those flights are how most people actually reach the parks. Arusha Airport is a separate, closer-in field from Kilimanjaro International, and the strips at Seronera and Lake Manyara put you inside the northern circuit.

These are small turboprop operations, so check each airline’s baggage rules before you book. Soft bags travel better than hard cases on these airplanes, and the limits are lower than what you carried on the long-haul flight in.

If you are heading to Tanzania for safari, the safest plan is the one the schedule already suggests: fly into Kilimanjaro, spend your last nights in Zanzibar, and give yourself options on the way home.

Why this route matters for Tanzania

Kilimanjaro is the gateway to the northern safari circuit, including the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara, and it is where climbers start for Africa’s highest peak. Zanzibar brings the beaches, the diving and Stone Town. Putting both on one airplane gives travelers a safari and beach trip without backtracking through another hub, and it gives non-revs two very different places to aim for on the same flight number.

Source: British Airways Media Centre and the Tanzania Tourist Board UK office.