Air Tanzania
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| Air Tanzania | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA TC |
ICAO ATC |
Callsign TANZANIA |
| Founded | 1977 | |
| Hubs | Julius Nyerere International Airport | |
| Fleet size | 4 | |
| Destinations | 8 | |
| Company slogan | "The Wings of Kilimanjaro" | |
| Headquarters | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | |
| Key people | Dumisani Sangweni (CEO) | |
| Website: http://www.airtanzania.com | ||
Air Tanzania is the national airline of the United Republic of Tanzania in eastern Africa. It operates services to domestic and regional destinations with plans to expand to other markets such as Dubai and Mumbai.
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[edit] History
Air Tanzania Corporation was established on 10 March 1977 after the breakup of East African Airways, which had previously served the region. Flights were started from Dar-es-Salaam using Boeing 737-200s and Fokker F-27s. A Twin Otter was used for regional services and flights from Kilimanjaro were started. In the mid 1990s the airline used a Boeing 767 but this aircraft was too large and the airline disposed of it. Regional services were reduced in this period and the Twin Otter was also disposed of.
The company was originally wholly owned by the Tanzanian government via the Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC). In 2001, the government began the process of privatizing the corporation. Initially, eight airlines expressed an interest in the privatization of ATC. By August 2002, South African Airways (SAA) and Kenya Airways were the only two remaining actively interested parties. By the bid submission deadline of September 19, 2002, only SAA had submitted a bid. In December 2002, SAA purchased a 49% stake in ATC for $20 million USD after they signed an agreement with the government. As a result of this transaction, the core operating assets of ATC were transferred to a new company called Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL). The government is expected to sell 10% of its current 51% stake to a private Tanzanian investor, thereby reducing the government's ownership to a non-controlling interest in ATCL.
The new airline Air Tanzania Limited (ATL) was launched on 31 March 2003, offering direct flights from 1 April between Johannesburg and Dar Es Salaam, but also to Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro.
[edit] Events of 2005
Air Tanzania recorded a pre-tax loss of almost $7.3 million in its first year following privatisation and part ownership by South African Airways. The loss was mainly attributed to the inability to expand the network as quickly and extensively as originally planned. It had been hoped to launch services to Dubai, India and Europe, but these have been delayed as there are only Boeing 737-200s in the fleet. The development of Dar Es Salaam as an East African hub for the South African Airways alliance had also not proceeded as quickly as planned (ref: Airliner World, March 2005).
On 31 January 2005 Air Tanzania suspended one of its few regional services: Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, following intense competition from Kenya Airways on the route. The airline did however reaffirm intentions to launch long-haul services within a year from Dar es Salaam to Dubai, London, Mumbai and Muscat (ref: Airliner World, April 2005).
[edit] Events of 2006
The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania has formally declared that a merger between the South African Airways and Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) that resulted into Air Tanzania Company Ltd (ATCL) has collapsed.
The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority director-general said that Air Tanzania was in a "worse state than before it was taken over by SAA". SAA blamed Tanzania's government for failing to release about $30m needed to implement Air Tanzania's business strategy to reverse continued losses
The government announced on 31st March 2006 that it would dispose off Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), following years of loss-making. ATCL made losses amounting to TZS 24.7bn/- in the four years it had merged with South Africa Airways.
In the financial year 2003/4, ATCL made losses of TZS 8.7bn.
In the financial year 2004/5, ATCL made losses of TZS 9.3bn.
In the financial year 2005/6, ATCL expects to make a loss of TZS 6.7bn
Investors have expressed interest in buying stakes in the Company. Among the airlines are Precision Air, Ethiopia Airlines and Gulf Air
[edit] Services
Air Tanzania operates the following services (at January 2005):
- Domestic scheduled destinations: Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Mtwara, Mwanza and Zanzibar.
- International scheduled destinations: Entebbe/Kampala, Johannesburg and Moroni.
[edit] Fleet
The Air Tanzania fleet consists of the following aircraft (at August 2006) [1]:
Rumours to order and lease soon
3 Embraer E190 Family 1 Boeing 737-300 2 Boeing 767 ( Long haul Expansion)
[edit] External links
- Air Tanzania
- Air Tanzania Jet Fleet Detail
- Air Tanzania Aircraft Pictures
- Latest Air Tanzania reviews
[edit] References
- ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
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