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Tanzania: Pemba Airport Up for Upgrading
Posted on : Thursday, 15th October 2015
A FEW days after laying foundation stone for the modern terminal building at the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (AAKIA) on Unguja Island, President Ali Mohamed Shein has promised to upgrade the current small airport in Pemba to international level.
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"Plans are underway to extend the runway, expand the airport, fix lights, and improve security to accommodate bigger planes from abroad," Dr Shein said, adding that it will be possible for international flights to land directly in Pemba.
Dr Shein said that improvement of services at both airports is a milestone in attracting more investors and tourists, saying there are still more opportunities to boost tourism. Work on the passenger terminal-II at AAKIA was progressing and expected to be ready by the end of 2016.
"The government is determined to improve its infrastructure. It is a continuation of good work done in the past five years as per Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) manifesto," Dr Shein said adding, "We have successfully expanded the runway and built an apron, which were opened last January.
We have also improved security at the airport including stopping stray animals and children," Dr Shein said after inspecting different sections of the new building.
The work at AAKIA is being done by the China Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) with consultancy/designing by the ADPI Architecture and Engineering Company from France.
Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Communications, Mr Issa Haji Ussi said that the government is on track in developing its sea and land transport network, as he thanked China for supporting the projects by providing loans.
Source : allafrica.com
