Arusha to Zanzibar flight: airlines, prices and flying from Kilimanjaro or the Serengeti

Arusha to Zanzibar flights in 2026: airlines and times

The Arusha to Zanzibar flight is the standard way off a northern Tanzania safari. Flight data counts about sixteen departures a day to Zanzibar (ZNZ), split between two airports: the small safari airlines fly from Arusha airport (ARK), the larger ones from Kilimanjaro (JRO). How many days to give each half of the trip is covered in our safari and Zanzibar guide. This page is about the flight itself.

Coastal is the only one that publishes a full timetable, and its 12:45 departure from Arusha is built to wait for the morning flights coming in from the Serengeti and Lake Manyara. The other frequencies come from flight search data in October 2026, and the small airlines adjust their times with the season. Check the day before.

Arusha to Zanzibar flight time

Count 1 h 15 to 1 h 35 in the air for about 430 km. The faster figure is for the bigger turboprops, the slower one for Coastal's single engine Caravans, which take 1 h 35 on the 12:45 departure. Add the morning drive from your lodge or the earlier hop from a park airstrip, and the transfer to your hotel at the other end.

Arusha to Zanzibar flight price

On flight search sites, one way fares run from about $110 to $285 in October 2026. Coastal, which sells mostly through safari operators, publishes a flat fare of $348 for an adult and $279 for a child aged 2 to 12, before about $32 of airport tax and safety fees. Over a year, May is the cheapest month and July, August and December the dearest, and fares booked several weeks ahead are clearly lower than last minute ones.

Arusha (ARK) or Kilimanjaro (JRO): which airport for the Zanzibar flight

This is where most bookings go wrong. Arusha airport (ARK) is a small domestic field on the western edge of Arusha, on the road in from the parks. Kilimanjaro International (JRO) is about 50 km east, past the whole of Arusha, which takes an hour and up to an hour and a half at rush hour. Booking engines often sell JRO flights under the name Arusha, so a cheap fare you found may not leave from where your safari driver drops you.

In practice, the park you finish in decides the airport.

Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar flight: Precision Air and Air Tanzania

From JRO, the Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar flight is run by Precision Air on ATR turboprops and by Air Tanzania, in about 1 h 05 to 1 h 20. Their two advantages are a 23 kg hold allowance and late departures, up to the evening, which can save a night in Arusha. Coastal does not fly Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar at all. JRO is the natural choice after a Kilimanjaro climb, or if you are connecting from an international arrival, as described in our flights to Zanzibar guide.

Serengeti to Zanzibar flight: the price of skipping the drive

If your safari ends in the Serengeti, you do not need to go back to Arusha by road. Coastal Aviation sells a single ticket from ten airstrips inside the park to Zanzibar. The plane collects passengers at one or two other strips, stops in Arusha, and lands in Zanzibar at 14:20. The 2026 fares, per adult, before $33 to $39 of taxes:

Children aged 2 to 12 pay about 80 % of the adult fare. Coastal calls its times rough estimates: the route is adjusted on the day depending on who needs collecting where, so a 10:45 departure can become 11:15.

Is the Serengeti to Zanzibar ticket worth it?

On price alone, it costs less than it looks. Seronera to Arusha alone costs $259 on Coastal, and Arusha to Zanzibar $348: $607 on two tickets, against $568 on the through fare. Against the drive, the comparison is in time: Seronera to Arusha is seven to eight hours on corrugated track, which means either losing a full day or leaving the park the afternoon before. The flight gives you a last morning game drive and the beach the same afternoon. In July to October, when the migration is in the north around Kogatende, it is the only sensible way out.

Auric Air from Kogatende and Seronera

Auric Air also advertises direct flights from Kogatende and Seronera to Zanzibar in season, in about 1 h 45, on larger Dash 8 aircraft. It does not publish the fares, and we could not confirm them for 2026. Ask your safari operator to quote both airlines: they book these seats every day and often get better rates than the public ones.

Baggage on Arusha to Zanzibar flights: the 15 kg soft bag limit

The Caravans and small turboprops that fly between the parks, Arusha and Zanzibar have a tiny hold. Their allowances count your hand luggage too, and the bags must be soft so they can be squeezed in. A hard suitcase can be refused at the steps.

Three ways around it. Coastal's XL class gives 30 kg for about 28 % more, $445 instead of $348 from Arusha, but it is only confirmed at check in and falls back to 15 kg if the plane is full. A freight seat on Regional Air or Auric Air takes up to 75 kg. Or travel light on safari and leave the beach suitcase in Arusha: ask your safari operator or your Arusha hotel to keep it, and fly from JRO on a 23 kg ticket if you collect it.

Do you need a night in Arusha before the Zanzibar flight?

The last Coastal departure that reaches Zanzibar in daylight leaves Arusha at 12:45, so it comes down to where you are at breakfast on the last day.

Finishing in the Serengeti: no night in Arusha

Fly from the airstrip. Every Coastal departure from the Serengeti lands in Zanzibar at 14:20, and you never leave the airport in Arusha. Driving out instead means a night in Arusha or Karatu, because seven or eight hours of road plus a flight is too much for one day.

Finishing at Ngorongoro, Tarangire or Manyara

The crater rim is three to four hours from ARK. Leave at 07:00 and you make the 12:45 Coastal flight, or one of Auric Air's afternoon flights. A crater game drive on the last morning rules that out: you then need either an evening flight from JRO or a night in Arusha. Tarangire and Manyara are closer, two to three hours, and an early start reaches the midday flights easily.

Flying from Kilimanjaro (JRO)

Add the hour across Arusha and arrive two hours before a domestic flight. With Precision Air's evening departures, a safari that ends in Tarangire at lunchtime still reaches Zanzibar the same night. Arriving after dark is fine at the airport, but the drive to the north or east coast takes another hour or more.

Landing in Zanzibar from Arusha: terminal, passport and transfer

Flights from Arusha and Kilimanjaro are domestic and arrive at terminal 1, the small domestic building, not the international terminal 3. The walk out is quick, as described on our Zanzibar airport page.

• Passport check, even from the mainland. Zanzibar keeps its own immigration desk. Your Tanzanian visa covers the island, but keep your passport on you, not in the hold. Why it works this way is on our page is Zanzibar a country?
• The $44 Zanzibar insurance. It is compulsory for every visitor, including those coming off a safari. Buy it online before the flight and keep the certificate on your phone.
• The transfer to your hotel. Stone Town is 15 minutes away, the north and east coasts about an hour. Prices and the best way to book are on our Zanzibar airport transfer page.

Ending the safari in the south, in Nyerere or Mikumi? Those parks are reached through Dar es Salaam, and the last leg is a twenty minute hop or the Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar ferry.

Questions people ask