TANZANIA: Air Tanzania Pilots Will Not Eat Christmas, Must Serve The People.

After the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) said it could revoke FastJet’s operation licence, the government has cancelled Christmas and New Year leave for pilots flying the national carrier, to fill the gap left by the budget airline.

All pilots flying the national carrier aeroplanes should call off their annual leave to serve the people, said the Minister for Transport Isaack Kamwelwe.

Fastjet suspended its flights until the end of January.

According to Mr Kamwelwe, passengers flying to various destinations in Tanzania during the Christmas and New Year festival could suffer following the suspension.

He said that the government will ensure that all passengers booked with Air Tanzania are able to fly to their destinations.

TCAA announced its intention to revoke FastJet's operation licence, citing the airline's cancellation of flights and the huge debt it owes contractors and the government.

Aviation authorities in Dar es Salaam said late Monday that FastJet had failed to address operational issues which led to severe flight disruptions.

TCCA issued the airline a 28-day notice to submit its financial and business plans or have its licence revoked.

TCAA director-general Hamza Johari asked all service providers that Fastjet owes money to send their invoices to the authority for action.

FastJet launched its flights in 2012, attracting a huge passenger base due to its affordable ticket prices. The airline began facing financial challenges after one of the firm’s original owners, FastJet Plc which held a 49 per cent stake withdrew. The airline was sold to Tanzania investors in November 2014.

Air Tanzania on the other hand was launched in 1977 to take over the defunct East African Airways. The government increased its aircraft to five, boosting business.

After acquiring its Boeing 787- 8 Dreamliner this year, Air Tanzania plans to launch a new route to Guangzhou, China via Bangkok, Thailand three times a week, with return fares pegged at between $650 and $700.

Meanwhile, Air Tanzania Limited (ATCL) dismissed reports suggesting that the national carrier could be making losses on its regional routes.

The CEO of the airline, Mr Ladislaus Matindi, said the fears raised on social media over low numbers of passengers were unfounded.

A debate ensued on social media on Monday after a photo was posted on Twitter by a person who claimed to have been a passenger on TC 214 Dar es Salaam/Kilimanjaro/Entebbe flight, with a caption claiming that the plane had only six passengers and six crew members.

On a full flight, a Bombardier Q400 aircraft can carry up to 90 passengers.

It is not about the ability to manage routes but poor understanding of the air transport from stakeholders as they have high expectations on ATCL performance, Mr Matindi said.

Some of those who contributed in the debate questioned the national carrier’s ability to profitably operate the regional routes, including the Dar es Salaam/Kilimanjaro/Entebbe route, which the aircraft was operating.

This is crazy if every country wants to have its own national airline. The whole EAC should just dissolve their airlines and be absorbed by the Ethiopian Airlines,” @RKI2011 tweeted.

“This is when you invest in a business without having a proper business plan,” another twitter user @MsTayanah commented.

When we were leaving Dar es Salaam, it was like 90 per cent full; when we stopped in Kilimanjaro, only four passengers remained on board, and later two boarded going to Entebbe, said another person who said he was a passenger on the same flight.

However, quelling profitability fears, the ATCL boss sounded optimistic.

Remember, we inaugurated the route in August this year. Build-up of passengers on a new route is normal in air transport when entering new market. In fact, we have been performing very well and picking up day after day.

The photo shows a flight from Kilimanjaro to Entebbe being part of the Dar to Entebbe route. We had a full flight from Dar to Kilimanjaro and few passengers to Entebbe, he added.

He said ATCL gets more passengers on Dar/Kilimanjaro/Entebbe on weekends.

In fact, we have 37 passengers today out of Entebbe and 37 passengers to Entebbe, he revealed.


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TANZANIA: Air Tanzania Acquires 787 Dreamliner

Tanzania will finally take delivery of its first Dreamliner aircraft this coming Friday July 6, following two intense years of planning the revival of the national carrier Air Tanzania.

The aircraft, baptised Kilimanjaro-Hapa kazi tu, successfully underwent its maiden runway test flight at the Paine field in Seattle, Washington state.

It was seen at the Paine field undergoing pre-delivery tests on Monday.

The aircraft's delivery will signal a major shift in Tanzania's aviation sector that will see the national career start operating intercontinental flights later this September, with a maiden flight to Mumbai.

This is a major boost to the fortunes of the carrier, revived barely two years ago, as it seeks to play a bigger role in the regional aviation market dominated by Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda.

Last week, the airline's commercial and business development director Patrick Ndekana said that the Dreamliner aircraft will fly to Mumbai thrice a week starting September, its first route outside the continent.

In March, Air Tanzania announced that the 787 Dreamliner will be its flagship as it renews and grows its fleet.

The fleet improvement programme includes the purchasing of six aircraft. These include three Bombardier DASH8 Q400, two of which were delivered in September 2016, and now use for domestic routes between Dar es Salaam and the Comoros islands, Mwanza, Kigoma and Mtwara.

It also received one Bombardier DASH8 Q400 in June last year. The improvement plan shows that by July this year, Air Tanzania will be operating a fleet of seven aircraft as it has been operating one Bombardier DASH8 Q300 since 2011.

We aim to establish our long-haul capability by starting flights to Europe, Asia and the US in the short term and the 787 Dreamliner is the perfect aircraft to achieve this ambition, chief executive officer Ladislaus Matindi said.

The airline will also receive two more new Bombardier CS300 after the Tanzania Government Flight Agency finalised purchase agreements with US manufacturer Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Canada's Bombardier Inc.

Two years ago Tanzania decided to develop a specific programme for revamping its national carrier which included purchasing of six new aircraft between 2016 and 2018, paying off debts, provision of startup capital, improvement and modernisation of business systems.

Mr Matindi said that the Bombardier C300s will be used to open up to six regional routes in southern and West Africa as the airline tries to capture a share of these markets.

We are looking at South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe and in the future expanding to West Africa with Ghana and Nigeria.

We will however use the Dreamliner for intercontinental routes to China and India initially, followed by Europe in the second phase.

We are already in talks with Boeing and the government to have a second delivery of the same aircraft in the near future, Mr Matindi said.

Air Tanzania is also expecting to undergo the Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification before the end of July, which will enable it enter into commercial partnerships with other operators as it seeks to grow its revenue via code share agreements.

The International Air Transport Association's IOSA is an evaluation system designed to test the operational management and control systems of an airline, putting it at par with the international aviation standards.

We already have a strong business plan and given that we are a great tourism destination, we believe that we will have the right mix of passenger numbers and capacity to support this plan, Mr Matindi said.

On Tanzania’s domestic routes, Air Tanzania will compete with Kenya Airways which partly owns Precision Air and the troubled Fastjet.

The latter two airlines operate domestic Tanzanian routes between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya and Zanzibar. Fastjet also flies to Southern Africa from Dar es Salaam with South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe featuring on its regional routes.


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TANZANIA: Air Tanzania To Commence Regional Flights

Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), is planning to start flying to Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

The airline’s managing director, Mr Ladislaus Matindi, revealed the company’s plans during the company workers’ congress, saying all routes would be active from the next financial year.

There is a significant improvement since the government started reviving ATCL and what we are currently targeting is to improve delivery of services and increase the number of routes, he said.

The workers congress’ chairman, Mr Emmanuel Koroso, said ATCL is an established airline, but it faced financial challenges that affected its overall business operations.

Initiatives by the government to revive ATCL are commendable, but we are facing some challenges that can only be resolved through dialogue, Mr Koroso said.

He mentioned some of the challenges as changing the working culture for some of the employees, which will help them compete with other foreign airlines.

Mr Koroso also said shortage of human and financial resources was also making it difficult for the airline to run efficiently, but he called on the employees to work hard.

Air Tanzania offers a sole international route to Moroni, Comoros and 12 domestic routes, including Bukoba, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Mtwara, Mbeya, Mwanza, Songea, Tabora and Zanzibar.

The carrier manages a fleet of four aircraft consisting of one Bombardier Q300 and three Q400 airliners.

Further, the company expects to add two more Bombardier CS300 and one Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to its fleet.

They will arrive in the country later this year, according to the Tanzania's State house director of communication, Mr Gerson Msigwa.

Boeing reported recently on its official website that the United Republic of Tanzania has ordered one 787-8 Dreamliner, which is valued at $224.6 million.

I am pleased to welcome Air Tanzania as the newest member of the Dreamliner family, said Mr Van Rex Gallard, the Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president for Latin America, Africa & Caribbean.

Tanzania has received its third aircraft of the six that President John Magufuli administration plans to acquire in order to revive State-owned Air Tanzania.

On Monday, the third aircraft touched ground at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) on Monday.

The plane, a Bombardier Q-400, touched ground at 5.07 PM, with President Magufuli gracing the event to receive it.

The government has purchased the plane for $32 million from Canada's Bombardier Aerospace.

Two years ago, Tanzania developed a programme to revitalise its national carrier, Air Tanzania.

The programme included purchasing six new aircraft between 2016 and 2018, payment of debts and provision of start-up capital, improvement and modernisation of business systems.

We will receive three more aircrafts. This time, jets. We will have a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and two Bombardier C300 series. They will arrive before the end of this year, President Magufuli said.

On Monday, the president also laid a foundation stone for installation of four radar systems in the capital Dar es Salaam.

The radars are to be installed at the JNIA, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and Songwe airports within 18 months. The project is part of the Tanzania's Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) strategy to improve civil aviation in the county.

The project will also facilitate search and rescue operations in case of emergency or air accidents.

This will enable the country meet the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)'s standards and guidelines, TCAA director-general Hamsa Johari said.

Air Tanzania was established as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) on September in 1977 after the collapse of the regional East African Airways.

Since then, the airline had been operating at a loss and depending on government subsidies.

The airline lost all its regional and international routes after grounding its aircraft which included Nairobi, Johannesburg, Jeddah, Milan, Frankfurt, London and Mumbai.

Meanwhile, A Tanzanian minister says women participating in the Miss Tanzania beauty pageant should be considered for employment at the State-run airline Air Tanzania (ATCL).

Information, Culture, Arts and Sports minister Harrison Mwakyembe argues that by recruiting them, the beauty competition will be seen as a bridge to success for Tanzania’s beautiful ladies.

Dr Mwakyembe spoke on Saturday while officiating this year’s Miss Tanzania's pageant.

He said he believes participants in the beauty contest have all the criteria to be recruited at Air Tanzania, insisting that he would push for their employment at the national carrier.

All they need is to undergo a three-month training at the National Institute of Transport before joining the ATCL team, he said.



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