Aviation Tanzania

HAINAN Airlines of China has agreed to introduce direct flights to Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) from Beijing in a bid to boost business and tourism between the two countries. The decision was announced in Guangzhou by the airline's Chairman, Mr Chen Feng, following a request from Tanzania's Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, who wanted the firm to look into the possibility of starting a Tanzanian route. Mr Cheng said that much as they are ready to start direct flights to Dar es Salaam, authorities should also ensure that the airport becomes a hub for all flights to China so that the country can benefit from the deal. He said that should Dar es Salaam become a hub from diverse states to China, it would mean that all flights from neighbouring countries would connect through the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA). However, he said, to make it work the country needs to have a strong local national airline, with which they will work to ensure that the route

Turkish fighter jets intercepted a Russian military plane in international airspace over the Black Sea, the military said on Wednesday, without giving a reason. “Two F-16 jets were scrambled to prevent a potential violation of (Turkish airspace)” after the Ilyushin II-20 plane was detected flying in parallel to Turkish coast, the general staff said in a statement about Tuesday’s incident. Turkish jets intercepted the plane off the port city of Ordu on the Black Sea coast and monitored its flight from the Georgian border in the east through to the Bulgarian border, it added. It was not immediately clear why the Russian plane approached Turkish airspace. Such air incidents between the two countries are rare.

Nine members of staff at Heathrow Airport have been arrested on suspicion of theft of personal property. The six men and three women, aged between 23 and 63, were arrested as part of a planned operation by the Metropolitan Police's aviation branch. Two members of staff were arrested at the airport and seven at residential addresses, in relation to 43 thefts between 22 May and 02 September. Searches are taking place at a number of locations. The arrested men and women were taken to a west London police station and remain in custody. Supt Martin Hendy said: "Police at Heathrow work together with our partners at the airport to ensure that any allegations of criminal activity are robustly investigated to ensure the travelling public and staff at the airport enjoy a safe and secure environment. "Today's arrests support that commitment." Source: BBC

A Vietnam Airlines plane landed with a wheel missing in the popular tourist city of Danang, but nobody on board noticed, state media said Tuesday. The incident on Monday involved an ATR-72 turboprop - the same model as a Lao Airlines plane that crashed last week. "When the aircraft was already in the parking lot, technicians found a broken front axle and one missing wheel," the airline said in a statement. The affected plane is now being investigated by the French-Italian manufacturer, it said. The incident was "rare" for its 14-strong fleet of ATR-72 planes, it said. All of the rest of the fleet had been inspected and were found to be flight-worthy, it added.  The plane was flying from the northern port city of Hai Phong, the gateway to the World Heritage Site of Halong Bay. It was carrying 41 passengers and crew, state media said. No one on board realised there was any problem with the plane on landing, according to the Tien Pho

Lao Airlines ATR 72-600 RDPL-34233 cn 1071 An ATR 72-600 operated by Lao Airlines was involved in an accident on Wednesday at around 4.00 pm (local time) near Pakse (Laos). The flight QV301 was operating between Vientiane and Pakse with 44 passengers and 5 crew members on board. All 49 people on board were killed. According to ATR press release, the aircraft registered under RDPL-34233, was MSN (Manufacturing Serial Number) 1071, delivered from the production line in March 2013.   Though at this time, the circumstances of the accident are still to be determined, official sources of Lao Airlines declared that the aircraft ran into extreme bad weather conditions and crashed into the Mekong river. According to Reuters, strong winds from the tail end of the Typhoon Nari have been passing over the area making it difficult task for divers trying to retrieve bodies from the muddy river. Bodies that have already been recovered were laid out  at a nearby temple. Official

Two (2) people have escaped death on Thursday after a light-weight plane belonging to As salaam Air crashed at gongo la mboto, TPDF military area in Dar es salaam. The Cessna 206, single engined, registered as 5H-IBB crashed in an open military area near the Tanzania Peoples Defense Force barracks. On board the plane were Capt. Aziz Abdallah Salim together with his student pilot Ahmed Mohamed (24yrs). Both the two pilots came out safely with just minor bruises on their faces and were taken to hospital for treatment. Capt. Aziz narrated that he was training his new student and everything was okay until when they were going to land for the last time but as they were about 3miles from Dar es salaam, 1000ft altitude, they got an engine shut down. They then tried to carry out all emergency procedures with nil joy. They had no other option but to face the crash. To avoid crashing into the houses they directed the plane to an open military area for emergency landing and the pl

Precision Air Services Plc (PW), has won the Supporting  Local Airline award in the annual TTB Tourism awards. The TTB 2013 annual tourism awards winners were announced by the Tanzania Tourist Board at the Africa Travel Association (ATA) eighth annual Presidential Forum held at New York University in october 1, 2013. The awards Program was created in 2000 to recognize and show appreciation to the travel professionals and media who have worked hard promoting and selling Tanzania in the US market, as well as to provide an incentive to increase the numbers even more in the coming years. With this award it seems Precision Air continues to be Tanzania's premier airline. Earlier last month, PW was voted Tanzania's 2013 Best Domestic Scheduled Airline by Tanzania Society of Travel Agents (TASOTA). This is the 4th time that the Airline has earned the title that comes as no surprise due to it’s notable dominance in the Aviation industry in the market as a successful and agg

Fastjet PLC has announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2013 posting a USD 24.9 million loss. The results show that their Tanzanian operations have made a loss of 13.3million US dollars. The Tanzanian operation reported quarterly EBIT loss of US$9.1m in Q1 and US$4.2m in Q2. The full statement can be accessed via the following link: www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail.html?announcementId=11724815