The Iringa airport

 

Departures on the left, arrivals on the right.

The runway, you simple walk out the doors and climb into the plane.

 

The airport at Iringa is small and servicable and dare I say a bit charming? It is located about a half hour drive outside of Iringa town, north towards Dodoma in a rural area with the typical Iringa granite studded hills providing a beautiful backdrop. 

The airport recently received some renovations and there is now a separate departure and arrival section. There is only one "terminal" so to speak, a large room with one entrance. As the flights are maximum 12 people and there are never more than two flights within an hour proximity of each other, you do not need to show up very far in advance. At the entrance there is a x-ray machine and walk through metal detector and then a small desk that serves as the ticket counter. The airport is small enough that you can view everything openly; there is no conveyor belt sucking your bag into an abyss unknown, no mystery regarding the whereabouts of your bag between the moment it leaves your hand and when it enters the underside of the airplane. You simply hand your bag to the clerk, he weighs it on a scale (non-digital, might I add) and puts it on a cart. The cart is wheeled out through the doors and onto the plane in front of everyone to see. 

There are clean bathrooms with western style toilets as well as a few concessions. When the renovations were completed a few years ago the concessions stand was manned with a few local classic like samosas and chapati along with beverages. For the past year or so it has not been opened and thus there are no services available and no public water availability. 

The airport is still under construction with a larger runway being built. It will allow for easier hosting of the larger Air Tanzania planes. Air Tanzania began servicing Iringa a few years ago and then abruptly stopped with concerns about the size of the runway. It was a shame as the Air Tanzania flights were a fraction of the cost but hopefully it will be back up and running shortly. 

The airport has come a long way. When we first moved to Iringa it was basically a one room building with minimal security infrastructure and very informal. I like the new renovations because they are not ostentatious or gaudy but completely appropriate for the size of the airport and hopefully we'll be able to fly more often when the new runway is complete.

Terminal 1