Flights between Dar-es-Salaam and Moscow resuming | Air Tanzania reverses decision to suspend Russia trips

From Russia with Love!

The national carrier of Tanzania seems to have been mulling on the decision which the airline recently took to shelve flights to Russia and realized it may as well resume the journeys.

Air Tanzania has thus reversed the earlier decision to end its journeys to Russia and announced that its planes will recommence the direct flights between Dar-es-salaam and Moscow from the 7^th of September 2026 henceforth.

Though the Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) management claims that the decision to resume the safaris to Russia was reached after the firm satisfied itself that the situation was safe, observers, on the other hand, believe there could be more under the flying carpet than what protruded from its edges.

Previously, on September 3, Air Tanzania had released an official announcement, declaring that the airline was temporarily ending its scheduled flights to Russia after operating there for eight weeks.

“Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) wishes to inform its valued customers and the general public that flights TC422 and TC423 between Dar es Salaam and Moscow are temporarily suspended with effect from 4th of September, 2026,” reads part of the statement.

ATCL claimed that the decision follows a routine risk assessment of the operating environment along the route.

According to the management, Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) usually conducts these assessments continuously across the carrier’s entire network.

“… and where the outcome supports a pause, we take one. Safety considerations always take precedence over commercial ones,” ATCL maintained.

Passengers holding tickets on affected flights, were even offered a full refund or rebooking to an alternative date or routing at no additional cost.

However, less than 24 hours after the initial announcement, Air Tanzania quickly released another statement saying the flights to Moscow are still intact with the journeys resuming on Monday, the 7^th of September 2026.

Air Tanzania initially launched flights to Moscow in July 2026 when their aircraft flew from Dar-es-salaam to Moscow via the Zanzibar Islands.

The National carrier’s inaugural flight landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Thursday, July 2, 2026 carrying 123 passengers, while 144 other travelers were booked on the return service.

Air Tanzania was supposed to operate the Dar es Salaam–Moscow (Vnukovo)–Zanzibar route three times a week using Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The National carrier remains the only airline which was offering scheduled passenger flights between Russia and Tanzania.

T​raveling one-way ​trip ​from Dar-es-salaam and Moscow ​usually takes around 8.5 hours.