Tanzania is updating aviation-related governance through legal, regulatory, environmental, procurement and institutional measures covering the Civil Aviation Act, airport regulations, environmental oversight of air transport routes, ICT systems, procurement controls and sector monitoring.
The Civil Aviation Act, Chapter 80, has been amended to strengthen aviation safety in Tanzania and align the country’s framework with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines. The amendment covers aircraft airworthiness, licensing of air transport service providers and aircraft accident investigation.
The amendment forms part of a wider package of legal changes in the transport sector, which also includes the Land Transport Regulatory Authority Act, the Ports Act and the Transport Licensing Act. For aviation, the key change is the update to the Civil Aviation Act and its focus on safety, licensing and accident investigation.
The Ministry has also completed two airport-related regulations: the Tanzania Airports Operations, Facilitation, Safety and Security Regulations, 2026, and the Tanzania Airports Fees and Charges Regulations, 2026.
These regulations are intended to support airport service provision and apply to airport operations, facilitation, safety, security, fees and charges.
Environmental management has also been included in the transport-sector framework. The Ministry has completed preparations for the Transport Sector Environmental Action Plan 2025-2030, in line with the Environmental Management Act, 2004.
The Ministry has continued to oversee environmental protection in transport projects and in the operation of air, land and maritime transport routes. For aviation, this includes environmental oversight of air transport routes and aviation-related infrastructure projects.
This is also reflected in airport development. Serengeti International Airport is described as a project aimed at improving transport, strengthening tourism and protecting the ecology of Serengeti National Park. The airport has been designed with environmental conservation in mind as a green airport and is intended to avoid disturbance caused by aircraft noise from take-offs and landings inside the park.
ICT is another area of reform. The Ministry has continued to improve the use of Information and Communications Technology to increase efficiency and provide services on time. ICT systems have improved revenue collection, increased accountability in the provision of timely services and reduced reliance on physical registries. This has also reduced the cost of duplicating documents in the Ministry’s operations.
Procurement controls are also part of the aviation-related governance framework. During the 2025/26 financial year, the Ministry continued to implement national development projects, including airport improvements, in accordance with the Public Procurement Act and related guidelines. This includes use of the National e-Procurement System, known as NeST, to support value for money in public procurement.
For aviation, this applies directly to airport improvement projects and associated infrastructure procurement. The 2026/27 project allocations include airport, air navigation, aircraft procurement, training and meteorological projects under the Ministry’s wider development programme.
The Ministry has continued to hold Annual Joint Transport Sector Review meetings with the Ministry of Works and the Prime Minister’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government. The 2025/26 review took place from 15 to 17 December 2025 and included more than 1,200 participants from the public sector, private sector and development partners.
The reviews have supported work on sector policy updates, alternative financing for development projects and the continued use of public-private partnerships for some projects.
A further institutional measure is the preparation of a Monitoring and Evaluation System for the Ministry of Transport. The system is intended to improve the efficiency of monitoring and evaluation activities, strengthen the management of transport-sector statistics, improve access to information on development projects and support decision-making on sector policies and strategies.
Staffing and skills development also form part of the governance framework. As of March 2026, 735 staff had been recruited in the Ministry and its institutions. The recruitment reduced staff shortages across the sector, including in scarce cadres such as pilots and instructors in sectoral training institutions.
The governance measures affecting aviation extend beyond aircraft, airports and airlines. They include amendments to the Civil Aviation Act, airport operations and fees regulations, environmental oversight of air transport routes, ICT use, procurement through NeST, monitoring and evaluation, policy review, institutional reporting, staff recruitment and training.
Together, these measures form part of the institutional framework behind Tanzania’s aviation investment programme, linking infrastructure and fleet investment with the laws, regulations, systems, skills and oversight needed to support aviation safety, airport service delivery and transport-sector performance.
