Tanzania buying new planes for troubled national airline to boost tourism

Tanzania plans to revamp its cash-strapped national carrier by buying new planes as part of plans to boost tourism and transport sectors, Tanzanian President John Magufuli said on Monday.

Home to the famous Serengeti National Park and Africa's highest mountain Kilimanjaro, Tanzania relies heavily on revenues from tourism - its biggest foreign exchange earner, bringing in around $2 billion a year.

Magufuli said his government wants to increase direct flights between Tanzania and Asian and European markets in a bid to boost annual foreign visitor arrivals beyond current levels of around 1 million.

"Tourists have to use several connecting flights to come to Tanzania ... this is because we don't have our own (strong) airlines," he said in a statement.

"We haven't even reached 2 million tourist arrivals a year, while a country like Morocco gets more than 12 million tourists each year."