Hello,
Last year on departure from Zanzibar, we were struck with a sudden Departure Tax, that wasnt even indicated even on the Airline Ticket/Website, lucky enough we still had some money with us ($48/Person including our 5 year old).
Just wondering if this same tax is still levied on departures, and is it the same case with Main land Tanzania?
Just need to be ready sure this time round before i land there early November.
Eric - this airport departure tax has been in place at Zanzibar for at least the last 8 years (from my experience). It is a tax levied by the Zanzibar Island Govt and that is why its not included with your ticket - they want to ensure that they (the Island Govt) get the money and its supposed to be used to maintain and upgrade the Zanzibar Airport. It should only apply to "international flights"- those from Zanzibar to Europe, Kenya, Sth Africa etc.
Most of the better guide books do tell you about it and if you book with a reputable travel agent they should tell you also. I cannot remember if it gets mentioned on the Kenyan Airways or Precision Air web sites. It used to be $20 US and I think it was increased to $30 US from 2009 so if it's now $48 and applies even to infants is useful information. Tks
Sorry forgot your question about mainland airports - no. Any departure tax for departures from Dar es Salaam and/or Kilimanjaro International Airports are directly levied and included with your ticket costs.
Left Zanzibar 25th August and was hit up for about 10$ a head for a domestic departure.
Many international passengers were none too chuffed about being made to cough up the $48 mentioned for departing overseas.
Leaving from Dar next day to the Gulf we were charged 0$. the tax could be to co-finance the swish new aeroport they're building, as the current one is chaos bottled - give yourselves plenty of time and a big shot of patience if flying in and out. Moreover, didn't have the greatest experience with Precision, although Fastjet ex-JRO was fine. Ferry?
o_m, the deaprture tax used to be Tsh 5000 for domestic flights, $30 for international. Then, a few years ago, it was suspended apparently, we didn't have to pay last year and they told us it was included in the ticket.
To our surprise, a year later, in early August, our son and I had to pay a small fee, I think $5 or 8, for our international departures on Ethiopian, and to our even bigger surprise, a month later my husband and the twins were charged $48 each on Condor. This is NOT the same tax that has been charged for years - that one was clearly advertised and the same regardless of which airline you flew with, this one nobody seemed to know about until check-in, which made things very difficult for some people who didn't have that amount of money left.
Bigal1 - having been to Tanzania 5 times since 2005, including 3 visits to Zanzibar I am fully aware that Zanzibar is a part of the United Republic of Tanzania. However the Island Government retains a number of areas of responsibility - including the airport, immigration (entry to the island), health and I think education. These charges fall under this area of responsibility.
Stefo - thanks for the clarification - I flew out of ZNZ to NBO in 2007 and paid the (then) $20 US departure tax, but as my other departures have been via the ferry I have not paid the tax. When did you fly out? I was just thinking - was it possible that because you were flying via Ethiopian Airlines (via Addis) that the fees were lower than for airlines (from Europe) with larger aircraft flying direct to Frankfurt! (Good to see that the twins are getting an opportunity to experience island culture!!)
I cannot guarantee that all these "Departure Tax" funds will be spent on the airport - but even 50% would allow for a significant improvement.
