Flights & airstrips
Flights to the Serengeti: airstrips, 2026 timetables and fares
Seven airstrips serve the national park, from Seronera in the centre to Kogatende and Lamai on the Mara River, and two airlines publish full timetables and fares for them: Coastal Aviation and Auric Air. Four more strips carry the name Serengeti on the ticket but lie outside the park.
If you only want the answer
Coastal Aviation flies Arusha to Seronera daily for $259 plus $28 in taxes one way, and Arusha to Kogatende for $355 plus $33 (timetable valid to 31 May 2027); Auric Air's rack fare Arusha to Seronera is $182 including taxes (timetable to 31 December 2026). Most departures leave Arusha between 07:30 and 10:45 and stop at Manyara on the way. Baggage is 15 kg on Coastal (30 kg on an XL seat) and 20 kg including hand luggage on Auric, so pack a soft bag and check which airline you are on.
Coastal Aviation: daily flights and published fares
Coastal Aviation's timetable valid from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2027, updated in December 2025, flies daily from Arusha to every park airstrip, with two rotations a day leaving at 07:45 and 10:45 and stopping at Lake Manyara. From July to September a direct 10:30 Arusha to Seronera flight lands at 11:00. Fares are one way in US dollars and exclude airport tax, safety fees and surcharge, which Coastal prints in a separate column.
Children aged 2 to 12 pay the child fare, about 80 percent of the adult one; infants under 2 fly free. Hops between airstrips inside the Serengeti cost $287, for example Seronera to Kogatende at 09:00, landing 10:05.
| Route | Departs | Arrives | Adult / child fare | Taxes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arusha to Seronera, via Manyara | 07:45 or 10:45 | 08:55 or 12:15 | $259 / $207 | $28 |
| Arusha to Seronera, direct (July to September) | 10:30 | 11:00 | $259 / $207 | $28 |
| Arusha to Kogatende | 07:45 or 10:45 | 10:05 or 12:45 | $355 / $284 | $33 |
| Arusha to Lamai | 07:45 or 10:45 | 10:10 or 12:45 | $355 / $284 | $33 |
| Arusha to Lobo | 07:45 or 10:45 | 09:45 or 12:30 | $343 / $275 | $32 |
| Arusha to Fort Ikoma | 07:45 or 10:45 | 09:20 or 13:00 | $343 / $275 | $32 |
| Arusha to Grumeti | 07:45 or 10:45 | 09:10 or 13:00 | $355 / $284 | $33 |
| Arusha to Serengeti South | 07:45 or 10:45 | 08:50 or 11:45 | $343 / $275 | $32 |
| Kilimanjaro to Seronera | 11:15 or 15:45 | 12:15 or 17:15 | $327 / $261 | $31 |
| Kilimanjaro to Kogatende | 11:15 or 15:45 | 12:45 or 17:45 | $427 / $342 | $36 |
| Zanzibar to Seronera | 08:40 (08:30 direct, July to September) | 12:15 (11:00) | $517 / $414 | $41 |
| Dar es Salaam to Seronera | 08:00 | 12:15 | $517 / $414 | $43 |
| Seronera to Arusha | 10:45, 11:30 (direct, July to September) or 16:45 | 12:30, 12:00 or 18:20 | $259 | $18 |
| Kogatende to Arusha | 09:25 or 14:55 | 11:45 or 18:20 | $355 | $23 |
| Seronera to Mwanza (on request) | 09:15 | 10:05 | $236 | $17 |
Coastal Aviation timetable 2023 to 2027, updated December 2025, read on 6 October 2026. Coastal has also published a timetable for October 2027 to May 2028; reconfirm your flight with the airline or your lodge before you travel.
Auric Air: the cheaper outbound fare
Auric Air's rack-rate timetable, version 1.5 for 15 June 2025 to 31 December 2026 (updated 25 August 2026), also flies daily to the Serengeti strips, but every flight is "on inducement 2 seats": it operates once at least two seats are sold. Its fares below include taxes. Auric prints a lower price into the park than out of it on several sectors, $182 Arusha to Seronera against $280 back; that is how the timetable reads.
Auric also flies from Mwanza on Lake Victoria to Seronera at 15:15, landing 16:30, for $247, on condition that four seats are sold, with bookings opening 28 days before the flight. Its 2027 to 2028 timetable was announced in March 2026; the figures here are the 2025 to 2026 ones.
| Route | Departs | Arrives | Rack fare incl. taxes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arusha to Seronera | 08:00, 09:30 or 09:50 | 09:30, 10:45 or 10:25 | $182 |
| Arusha to Kogatende | two morning flights | times to confirm with Auric | $307 |
| Arusha to Lamai, Lobo, Fort Ikoma or Grumeti | 07:30 or 10:00 | 09:30 to 13:00 by strip | $307 |
| Arusha to Serengeti South | 07:30 or 10:00 | 08:50 or 11:40 | $297 |
| Kilimanjaro to Seronera | 10:25 | 12:00 | $332 |
| Kilimanjaro to Kogatende | 10:25 | 12:50 | $417 |
| Mwanza to Seronera (minimum 4 seats) | 15:15 | 16:30 | $247 |
| Mwanza to Kogatende, Lamai or Grumeti | 15:15 | 16:00 | $262 |
| Seronera to Arusha | 11:30 or 15:00 | 12:05 or 17:15 | $280 |
| Seronera to Kilimanjaro | 11:10 or 15:00 | 12:35 or 16:45 | $340 |
| Kogatende to Arusha | 10:45 or 14:10 | 12:05 or 17:15 | $365 |
Auric prints Arusha to Kogatende as a 45-minute flight, which does not fit a route Coastal flies in 2 hours 20 minutes via Manyara. Confirm the times with Auric before you build connections on them.
Which Serengeti airstrip is yours?
Airlines label every strip "Serengeti / ...", including four that lie outside the national park. A ticket to Serengeti / Ndutu lands you in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where NCAA fees apply instead of TANAPA's; Sasakwa and Singita serve the Singita Grumeti reserve, and Mwiba a private ranch south of the park. Ask your lodge which strip it uses before you book.
| Airstrip | Area | In the national park? |
|---|---|---|
| Seronera (SEU) | Central; 2,280 m gravel runway at about 1,550 m | Yes |
| Kogatende | North, Mara River; main strip for the crossing season | Yes |
| Lamai | North of the Mara River | Yes |
| Lobo | North-east | Yes |
| Grumeti (Kirawira) | Western Corridor | Yes |
| Fort Ikoma | North-west, at the park edge | Position against the boundary not published |
| Serengeti South | South | Location not published by either airline |
| Ndutu | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | No |
| Sasakwa and Singita | Grumeti Game Reserve | No |
| Mwiba | Mwiba Wildlife Ranch, south of the park | No |
From the international airport to the bush plane
Kilimanjaro International (JRO) is the long-haul gateway for northern Tanzania, with flights in 2026 from Amsterdam (KLM), Paris (Air France), Doha (Qatar Airways), Istanbul (Turkish Airlines), Addis Ababa (Ethiopian), Dubai (flydubai) and Nairobi (Kenya Airways), among others. Coastal flies JRO to Seronera at 11:15 and 15:45, Auric at 10:25. An international arrival the evening before, with a night in Arusha, is the safe pattern; a same-day connection only works on the 15:45 departure.
Arusha Airport (ARK), on the western edge of town, is the hub for safari flights, and most departures leave between 07:30 and 10:45. Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar connect through Arusha and Manyara in about four hours at $517 one way on Coastal, and Zanzibar has a direct flight from July to September. Mwanza (MWZ) is the western option, on Auric's afternoon flight.
Flying between the Serengeti and the Masai Mara
No flight crosses the border directly. Coastal flies from Kogatende (10:05), Seronera (09:00) and Grumeti (09:10) to Tarime, landing 10:25, to connect after a road transfer with Safarilink from Migori to the Masai Mara; Coastal does not print a fare for that leg. The other way round, our Masai Mara guide's reading of the 2026 Airkenya timetable leaves the Mara at 08:05 and reaches the Serengeti strips at 12:30, daily except from 1 April to 20 May.
The long way is via Arusha: Coastal flies Seronera to Nairobi Wilson at 10:45, landing 15:20 with a Safarilink connection, for $459 plus $138 to $143 in taxes ($555 from Kogatende or Grumeti).
Baggage: two airlines, two rules
- Coastal Aviation: 15 kg standard. An XL seat raises it to 30 kg and is confirmed only after operations have checked the weight; the XL fare Arusha to Seronera is $331.
- Auric Air: 20 kg in total per passenger, including hand baggage, cameras and filming equipment. Extra weight is pre-booked in 10 kg slabs, up to four, at $60 a slab on safari routes; maximum piece size 90 x 65 x 35 cm.
- Auric accepts all bag types but recommends soft-sided bags; a soft duffel loads into any small aircraft hold and is the safe choice on both airlines.
- Other carriers listed by travel sites, among them Precision Air, Air Excel, Regional Air and Safari Air Link, publish no Serengeti timetable we could read, so their rules are not given here.
Park fees when you arrive by air
The landing fee at Serengeti airstrips is paid by the airline to TANAPA, not by you; the $10 per person airstrip charge printed in the TANAPA tariff applies only to Ugalla and Kigosi. What you do pay is the conservation fee, $70 plus 18% VAT ($82.60) per adult per 24 hours from 16 May to 14 March, and $70.80 from 15 March to 15 May, plus the concession fee if your lodge is inside the park. Fly-in camps usually bill both with the rate or add them to it.
Fly or drive?
Fly if you are staying in the north or west, or have four nights or fewer: Arusha to Kogatende is about 2 hours 20 minutes in the air against two long days on the road, and camps such as Sayari include the airstrip transfer. Fly too if you would otherwise cross the Ngorongoro Conservation Area only to reach the park, because the road trip in and out costs two NCAA permits at $70.80 each.
Drive if the trip is a northern circuit with Tarangire, Manyara and the crater on the way, which an operator's vehicle and guide make easy, or if the budget matters more than the time: the road costs the vehicle and two NCAA crossings rather than $287 or more per seat each way. A common compromise is to drive in through Ngorongoro and fly out from Seronera or Kogatende.
Something this page does not answer?
Bush-flight schedules move with the seasons. If your dates or airstrip are not covered here, ask.
Ask us. We answer questions about the park itself, and we can usually tell you which camps work on one route and who to write to. If what you want is a trip someone else arranges, we will say so and hand you to an operator we know, and we earn a commission if that becomes a booking.
Nothing on this site sits behind the form. Every figure we have is already on the page.
Sources
- Coastal Aviation timetable 2023 to 2027, updated December 2025 (checked 6 Oct 2026)
- Coastal Aviation, Serengeti airstrips (checked 6 Oct 2026)
- Auric Air rack-rate timetable Ver. 1.5, 15 June 2025 to 31 Dec 2026 (checked 6 Oct 2026)
- Auric Air, baggage policy (checked 6 Oct 2026)
- TANAPA, Tanzania National Parks Tariffs 2023/2024: landing fees and airstrip charge (checked 6 Oct 2026)
- Wikipedia, Kilimanjaro International Airport and Seronera Airstrip (checked 6 Oct 2026)