Maurice_M

see link http://www.eturbonews.com/6695/tanza...-banned-flying

This will certainly cause big problems for anyone hoping to fly from South Africa to Tanzania, they will now have to go via Nairobi.

This was on the cards as their service has been extremely erratic since May/June this year.


Maurice

ShayTay

Actually, South African Airways has a flight from JNB to DAR.

Georgie2007

Thanks for the info especially as it will affect our trip. We were flying Tanzania Air from Johannesburg to Kilimanjaro (via DAR) on Friday 31st July 2009 and then DAR to Johannesburg on Monday morning 24th August to connect in with our return flight home at 1810. I have been trying to see how to get there and back with SAA or Kenya airways but for some reason I cant access flight details etc. Can anyone please help me? We may now have to go through Nairobi which is ok. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers Georgie

divine54

i fly where decent airlines are flying.

i would never fly air tanzania or air mozambique for instance.

saves a lot of trouble.

sorry that would not help you at all but maybe of help for future trips.

div

Patty

Georgie,
Kenya Airways flies JNB-NBO codeshares on Precision Air flights between NBO and JRO. Between DAR and NBO, Kenya Airways flies their own metal as well as codeshares on Precision Air flights. You should be able to look up schedules on www.kenya-airways.com.

Patty

Posted too soon...

SAA flies JNB-NBO (you'll then need to connect with Precision Air NBO-JRO) as well as DAR-JNB. I'm having some trouble with www.flysaa.com but was able to see schedules on www.staralliance.com.

Georgie2007

Thanks Patty. I will check out the staralliance website. Is Kenyan Airways reliable? Once bitten twice shy.

Patty

I figured out what I was doing wrong on www.flysaa.com. I had my country setting on South Africa so it didn't like my DAR input for the departure city.

We had cancellations on the Kenya Airways CDG-NBO and return flights in Feb but I kind of expected that due to the election turmoil. Other than that, I've flown Kenya Airways between NBO-DAR and NBO-SEZ as well as Precision Air between NBO-JRO. All of these flights departed relatively on schedule. To me, they seemed about as reliable as any other carrier.

Good luck!

Georgie2007

Thanks Patty. I have now found SAA flights from Johannesburg to DAR return.
SA188 Departing J'Burg at 1425 arriving DAR at 1925.
SA189 Departing DAR at 0725 arriving J'Burg at 1010. From memory they dont look to be the same flight times as the Air Tanzania flights were so am assuming they are not code sharing the flight.
My problem now is findind a flight from DAR to Arusha or Kilimanjaro late evening on 31st July. Any suggestions?
We may have to fly 31st July SAA J'Burg to Nairobi arriving at 1930 and connect with a precsion air at 2130 arrivng at Kilimanjaro at 2220. On the way home 24th August we can fly SAA, DAR to Johannesburg departing at 0725.
If anyone has any better solutions I would love to hear them.

Div,
I did a bit of research before we booked and it seemed that Air Tanzania was OK, not great but not a no go zone. Last year we flew Johannesburg to Pemba Mozambique on LAM Airlines and the flights were on time and everything was quite good. I must admit though it was a bit weird not having assigned seating on the way back.

Cheers Georgie

divine54

hi georgie,

i always check that airline's safety website and air mozambique hasn't a particularly good safety record ;-)

one has only one life and i would hate to waste it on an airline ;-)

in case of moz i would fly either pelican air to vilanculos or sa airlink to pemba.

i guess it's all a matter of priorities.

furthermore especially african airlines tand to just canel routes or services altogether. it's too risky also in view to getting stranded and losing time.

anyway - good to read your lines after a flight on air mozambique ;-)
just kidding.

div

oops - happy landings!

Patty

SA188/189 are operated on SA metal. They're not codeshares.

The latest Precision DAR-JRO flight on July 31 departs at 6:00pm. I believe Coastal, Zanair and Regional are all even earlier. You'll probably need to fly via NBO if you want a same day connection.

Georgie2007

I think we will have to go via Nairobi and out via DAR as we need to get to Arusha on the 31st July. The main reason is there is a 30% cancellation fee for Onsea House. The 1st August is a rest and come what may day so arriving late is no problem as we can sleep in the next morning.

We arrive in Nairobi at 7.30pm. There is a precision air flight leaving for Kilimajaro at 9.30pm. I have not been to Nairobi airport so not sure how it works. Will that be enough time to make the connection? Would my bags go straight through or would I have to collect them and take them to Precision Air check in.

Thanks so much for your help. It is really appreciated.

Cheers Georgie

Patty

That should be enough time. I don't know if SA has a baggage interline agreement with Precision. You could call and ask. If so, and your bags are through checked to JRO (you'll need to show the SA check-in agent at JNB proof of onward flight), there's a transfer desk airside at NBO where you can pick up your onward boarding pass.

In case your bags are not through checked, you can still go to the transfer desk and ask for their assistance in retrieving and retagging your bags. They'll probably escort you downstairs to baggage claim without you needing to purchase a transit visa.

Georgie2007

I have just checked with SAA and they dont have interline agreements with Precison AIr so we will have to collect our luggage and rebook it onto the precision air flight. Patty you are saying we should be able to go to the transfer desk and get our bags so we dont have to clear immigration and customs? That sounds great but also a little scary as I have not had to do this before. Is this a common thing? One would think so as many people arriving in Nairobi would want to fly straight onto Arusha.
Thanks again for your help.
Cheers Georgie

Patty

<i>Patty you are saying we should be able to go to the transfer desk and get our bags so we dont have to clear immigration and customs?</i>

Yup.

<i>Is this a common thing?</i>

Only at NBO that I know of

Georgie2007

Thanks for your help Patty. I will now go ahead and book the flights.
Cheers Georgie

Patty

I should add that if for whatever reason this practice is discontinued (I don't think it will, but you never know), you should be prepared to purchase a transit visa, claim your bags and recheck them at the main check-in counter.

Georgie2007

I will keep that in mind and thanks again. Cheers Georgie