Qatar Airways will launch flights to Zanzibar, the airline’s third gateway in Tanzania after Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro on July 1. The new five-times-a-week flight to Zanzibar will operate via Kilimanjaro, the carrier said in a statement.

It added that the current Kilimanjaro flights which today are served via Dar es Salaam will be made non-stop from Doha from July 1, with return flights from Kilimanjaro to Doha served via Zanzibar.

The mystic spice island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean will take the total number of destinations in the airline’s African network to 20 cities.

“Today’s announcement of new services to Zanzibar reflects our commitment to connect diverse cities via our Doha hub and offer our passengers an extensive range of exciting global destinations. As our 20th gateway in Africa, Zanzibar will strengthen our presence as one of the biggest airlines flying to the African continent,” said Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker.

Qatar Airways’ African expansion in the past weeks has included the announcement of a new destination Durban and increase in flights to Johannesburg which will launch on December 17, and also an increase in frequency to Cape Town from October 1.

Qatar Airways has been operating in Tanzania since 2007. The Tanzanian operation was expanded in 2012 when the airline launched flights to Kilimanjaro.

The Doha – Kilimanjaro – Zanzibar route will be operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.