• Zanzibar begins €180 million ($204 million) upgrade of Pemba Airport
• New runway and terminal to allow direct commercial flights to the island
• Project aims to boost tourism, trade, and regional air connectivity

After years of anticipation, Zanzibar’s government announced yesterday the start of modernization works at Pemba Airport. The upgrades to the airport on Pemba, the archipelago’s second-largest island, will enable it to cater to medium-capacity commercial planes. This project, funded to the tune of €180 million ($204 million) by the UK Export Finance agency (UKEF), aims to integrate the island more extensively into regional economic and tourism traffic.

The Vice Minister of Works, Communications and Transport, Nadir Abdulatif, indicated that preliminary works had commenced in November 2024. These initial steps facilitated the establishment of an operational base required for the active construction phase. The Brazilian company Propav Infrastructures has been selected as the primary contractor, with the engineering firm Dar al-Handasah Consultants overseeing the technical aspects of the project.

The contract, signed on January 4, 2023, was temporarily suspended in January 2024 due to a dispute between Propav and its former local partner Mecco. This issue was amicably resolved in April 2024, enabling Propav to resume the works independently.

The project involves extending the runway from 500 meters to 2.5 kilometers, building a new passenger terminal, and developing infrastructure suitable for Boeing 737-800 aircraft. These improvements will allow direct commercial flights to Pemba Airport, bypassing the need for stopovers at Unguja Airport, as is currently the case.

The Zanzibar authorities aim to make the island more accessible and enhance its role in the archipelago’s economy. The reconfiguration of the airport is expected to boost tourism, improve island logistics, and stimulate economic exchanges with mainland Tanzania and neighboring countries. It should also help bridge the infrastructure gap between the various islands of Zanzibar.

Upon completion, the airport should accommodate up to 750,000 travelers annually, a substantial increase from the current capacity of approximately 45,000. This boost has the potential to attract new regional airlines, establish regular connections to Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, and Mombasa, and more robustly integrate Pemba into regional trade flows. Furthermore, the project aligns with the government’s ambition to position Zanzibar as a secondary growth hub within East Africa’s aviation network by providing an alternative to oversaturated continental air hubs, stimulating tourist traffic, and drawing investments in the hotel, trade, and freight sectors.