Seronera Airport

Seronera: the airstrip in the heart of the Serengeti

Seronera Airstrip (IATA SEU, ICAO HTSN) lies in the center of Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania, near the Seronera River and the park's main lodge area, where the wildlife is at its densest. It is a gravel airstrip with a small shelter rather than an airport, but it is the busiest of the Serengeti's strips and the one most safari travelers land on: the scheduled safari flights from Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar save a full day of driving, and the view of the plains on approach, with the animals below, is part of the journey. The radar on this page shows what our data sources report over the Serengeti; the arrivals and departures pages are linked above it.

Airlines and destinations

Coastal Aviation, Auric Air, Regional Air and Air Excel fly scheduled safari circuits with small turboprops, Cessna Caravans mostly, that link Seronera with Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Lake Manyara, the other Serengeti strips (Kogatende, Grumeti, Lobo, Ndutu) and Zanzibar, with departures in the morning and early afternoon and the route depending on who has booked. Precision Air and Air Tanzania do not fly here. Our route data holds no connections for Seronera, and the park lies far beyond the reach of our receivers, so the operators' schedules are the guide.

Getting to your camp

Your lodge or camp sends a safari vehicle to meet the plane, a drive of a few minutes to the Seronera lodges or an hour or two across the park to the camps in the Western Corridor or the north; the game drive begins on the way from the strip. There are no taxis, no rental cars and no public transport; independent travel in the park is by pre-arranged vehicle only, and the park fee is payable at the gate or in advance.

Good to know

Facilities at the strip are a shade shelter, a toilet and the ranger post; there is no terminal, no check-in desk and no shop, and the pilot weighs the luggage, usually limited to 15 kilograms in soft bags. Flights run on a circuit and the departure time you are given is approximate. Wildlife on the runway can delay a landing by a few minutes. Visitors to Tanzania need a visa, obtained online or at the international airports, and yellow fever proof if arriving from an affected country. The gateways to the northern circuit are Kilimanjaro and Arusha, and Zanzibar is the beach extension. Every airport we track is listed in the airport overview.