Second Dreamliner for Air Tanzania
BUDGET 2017/18 SETS ASIDE DOWNPAYMENT FOR DREAMLINER
NUMBER 2
News are coming out of Tanzania that the recently
presented budget to the national parliament has apparently build in the down
payment for a second Boeing B787 Dreamliner, which, if and when confirmed,
would bring the order to two wide body jets.
"Mr. Speaker, the arrival of the two Bombardier Dash 8 –
Q400 aircraft with the existing Dash 8 – Q300 airline enabled ATCL to provide
air transport services in
Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kigoma, Arusha, Kilimanjaro,
Bukoba, Mbeya, Dodoma, Zanzibar and Moroni (Comoro). By using these three
planes, ATCL intends expanding its services in the areas of Mtwara, Mpanda,
Songea and Tabora from June 2017. Travels to Entebbe (Uganda), Nairobi
(Kenya)Bujumbura (Burundi) and Kigali (Rwanda) Will start after getting a third
Bombardier Dash type 8 – Q400 in July 2017. In addition, soon after the [first]
Bombardier CS300 aircraft arrives in the country, ATCL will begin trips to West
Africa, Central Africa, South Africa, East Central and India; And later travel
long trips to China, Europe, and the US after Boeing 787 aircrafts arrive".
"Mr. Speaker, during the fiscal year 2017/2018, the
Airline Company (ATCL) has been awarded 500,000 Million Shillings for the
completion of the 3-flight purchase payment of two aircraft (2) of CS 300
capable of carrying 127 passengers One and one (1) large-scale Boeing 787-8
Dreamliner range capable of carrying 262 passengers. In addition, the funds
will also be used for insurance costs, training (pilots, engineers and staff),
starting costs (Start up cost) with the original payment of the Boeing 787
(Dreamliner) flight".
The announcement also sheds light on the plans for
domestic, regional, continental and intercontinental expansion the airline is
now eying after the top management and board were changed and substantive funds
injected into the previously moribund carrier.
With other regional airlines now well established, such
as RwandAir, Kenya Airways and Ethiopian will Air Tanzania no doubt face a
competitive battle over the skies of East Africa while in Uganda, they probably
need to wrap their heads around that coming last in such a game worth billions
of US Dollars vis a vis the cost of state of the art airline fleets, and with
no cash in sight, that ship has sailed.
Source: Aviation, Travel and Conservation News
Image: Courtesy Boeing Artists Impression