TUI adds Amsterdam to Mombasa and Zanzibar Routes
After months of paperwork, polite emails, and what we can only assume was a lot of refreshing inboxes, TUI Airlines has officially been cleared to fly charter services to Kenya. Europe’s largest tour airline has secured a one-year licence from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, and yes — this time, it actually stuck.
From 10th November 2025, TUI will operate two weekly charter flights on a rather scenic routing: Amsterdam – Zanzibar – Mombasa – Amsterdam, using Boeing 787 Dreamliners based in Amsterdam. Sunseekers, your boarding passes are practically warming up already.
A Small Catch (Because There’s Always One)
Before anyone gets too excited about hopping between Zanzibar and Mombasa, there’s a rulebook moment. TUI isn’t allowed to pick up or drop off passengers between those two destinations. In aviation speak, that’s about traffic rights. In normal human language, it means: no sneaky island-to-coast shortcuts. Fair enough.
If you need help with your next event, incentive, meeting, conference or group to Zanzibar, please
Third Time Lucky
This approval didn’t happen overnight. TUI first knocked on the door back in June and was politely shown back out. A fresh application in August 2025 did the trick, and now the airline is free to tap into the growing European appetite for Indian Ocean beaches, East African safaris, and winter sun that doesn’t require a heated jacket.
Not Everyone Is Applauding
As with any big airline move, not everyone is thrilled. Some Kenyan tourism associations have raised concerns about large, vertically integrated tour operators flying in with bundled holidays — flights, hotels, the lot — potentially squeezing local airlines and businesses.
Regulators, however, see it differently. Their argument? Kenya’s coast needs more capacity, especially in winter, and rival destinations have been happily soaking up European charter traffic while Kenya waited at the gate.
What This Really Means
For TUI, it’s another tick on the global charter map, strengthening its long-haul leisure network across Africa and beyond. For Kenya, it’s a calculated move to bring more European visitors back to the coast, hotel beds filled, beach bars buzzing, and safari jeeps rolling again.
In short: planes are coming, tourists are packing, and Kenya is officially back in the winter sun conversation.
Sometimes, persistence really does pay off — especially when it arrives on a Dreamliner.
