Abeid Amani Karume International Airport

Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (ZNZ) is the principal gateway to the Zanzibar Archipelago and East Africa's busiest island airport. Located 7 km (4 mi) south of Stone Town on Unguja (the main Zanzibar island) at 54 ft (16 m) elevation, it sits on a low coral shelf just inland from the Indian Ocean. A single 9,915-ft (3,023-m) asphalt runway 18/36 handles fully loaded widebodies, reflecting a deliberate upgrade strategy designed to allow non-stop flights from Europe without a Dar es Salaam stop. ZNZ serves 50 routes to 20 destinations on 25 airlines (2026) - an unusually high airline-to-destination ratio driven by Zanzibar's role as one of Africa's most internationally competitive leisure markets. Scheduled operators include Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates (via Dar), Oman Air, FlyDubai, KLM, Edelweiss, Neos, Condor, ASKY, Uganda Airlines and a large stable of regional operators including Coastal Aviation, Auric Air and Precision Air. The charter mix from Italy, Poland, Germany and Russia adds substantial seasonal widebody volume. The gleaming Terminal 3, inaugurated in 2021 under a Chinese-built contract, replaced the crowded legacy facility and raised capacity toward 1.5 million annual passengers with five jet bridges and modern border-control infrastructure. The airport is named after the first president of Zanzibar and remains semi-autonomous from Tanzania Airports Authority, operated by the Zanzibar Airports Authority. Its strategic value has grown in tandem with Zanzibar's tourism boom, which drew over 800,000 international arrivals in 2023. The semi-autonomous status of Zanzibar within Tanzania means the airport enforces separate immigration procedures even for arrivals from the Tanzanian mainland at Dar es Salaam. ZNZ also serves a critical cargo role for spice, clove and fresh-fish exports, with weekly Boeing 737-400F and 757F freighter operations running to Nairobi, Dubai and Addis Ababa.