Aviation Tanzania

The world’s latest generation commercial airliner, the A350-900, has received Type Certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on 30th September 2014. The certified aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification will follow shortly. The EASA A350-900 Type Certificate was signed by EASA’s Executive Director, Patrick Ky. The document was handed over to Airbus’ Executive Vice President Engineering, Charles Champion and Airbus’ A350 XWB Chief Engineer, Gordon McConnell. “Receiving the A350-900 Type Certification from EASA is a great achievement for Airbus and for all our partners who have contributed to designing, building and certificating this fantastic, new generation aircraft. The A350-900 is now ready to fly from the nest and be enjoyed by airlines and passengers,” said Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO. “The A350 XWB embodies many extra innovative technologies which make all the difference in passenge…

Low-cost African airline Fastjet has reported increased operating losses of $30.5 million in the first half of the year (through June 30, 2014).
The figure included $13.9 million in losses in its core Tanzanian operation. The airline made a total operating loss of $25 million in the same period a year earlier. The loss came despite a 96% rise in first half revenues to $19 million with a 41.5% rise in passenger numbers from the Tanzania-based business. A further $13.5 million “adverse effect” came from loss-making arms  Fly540 Ghana and Fly540 Angola where services remain suspended pending a restructuring. Fastjet Tanzania aircraft utilisation increased from 5.5 hours to 7.9 hours per aircraft per day during the period and reached 9.9 hours per aircraft per day by the end of August, on track to achieve the target of 11.5 hours, the airline said. Chief executive and interim chairman Ed Winter said: "We are delighted to have seen a steady increase in the number of passengers travelling on…

Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro join flydubai’s East African network


Dubai-based flydubai has announced the launch of flights to Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.Flights to the East African country will commence in October, expanding the airline’s network in Africa to 12 destinations.
Commenting on the launch of flights, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: “With the addition of these three new destinations in Tanzania we’ve doubled our network in North and East Africa this year, strengthening our commitment to serving previously underserved markets.”
flydubai recently announced the launch of flights to Bujumbura in Burundi, Entebbe in Uganda and Kigali in Rwanda and flights to these destinations will commence at the end of September.
Tanzania is a regional hub for tourism in East Africa and in 2013 the country welcomed over 1 million tourists. According to the Tanzania Tourism Board (TTB), this figure looks set with to double with 2 mill…

Precision Air (PW) has announced to introduce two direct domestic flights and suspend one international route starting Wednesday this week. The airline will launch direct flights between Dar es Salaam on one hand and Kigoma and Bukoba on the other and suspend its flights to Hahaya in Comoros the same day. The company said at the weekend that the direct flights were in response to customers’ outcry. Precision Air, which is listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, has been serving the two local destinations via Mwanza.  “We have done this in response to our customers’ feedback and constant requests for direct flights,” said Mr Elvis Ndomo, acting commercial director. Kigoma will receive three flights a week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays while Bukoba will be served four times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.  Meanwhile, the airline is temporarily suspending its Hahaya (Comoros) route effective Wednesday as it seeks to optimize its resources and deploy them on commerc…

Dar es Salaam will be Etihad Airways’ 110th destination globally, and its 11th destination in Africa and the Indian Ocean. 
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, will expand its African route network with the launch of a daily service to Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania.  Flights between Abu Dhabi and Dar es Salaam, which commence on 1 December 2015, will be operated using Airbus A320 aircraft with 16 Business Class and 120 Economy Class seats. Dar es Salaam will be Etihad Airways’ 110th destination globally, and its 11th destination in Africa and the Indian Ocean. The daily schedule will offer two-way connectivity over Etihad Airways’ hub in Abu Dhabi, with convenient onward connections to 45 popular destinations across the Middle East, Europe, the Indian Subcontinent, North and Southeast Asia, and Australasia. 
In particular, it is anticipated that the demand for the new route will be boosted by strong flows of business and leisure travellers, as w…

The company currently has about 23,000 flight attendants.
United Airlines reached a deal with the flight attendants’ union to offer up to $100,000 (U.S.) in severance for workers who leave the company. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said Monday that the airline hopes that at least 2,100 of its 23,000 flight attendants will accept. The airline also said that it would recall about 1,450 furloughed flight attendants to fill jobs in places where United is understaffed. The company, formed by a 2010 merger, has seen growth on what used to be Continental Airlines, which hired 485 flight attendants last year. But the old United operation has been shrinking and furloughing flight attendants. The cabin crews still fly separately because the company has not reached a single contract that covers both groups. Airlines and other companies use early-out bonuses to entice employees – especially senior, more expensive ones – to leave and be replaced by entry-level workers. United Continental Holdin…

Low-cost pan-African airline offers direct air link between Tanzania and Uganda

fastjet’s inaugural flight between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Entebbe in Uganda took off today (16th September), marking the launch of the low-cost airline’s fourth international route across Africa.

Fastjet will be flying this route every Tuesday and Thursday, up until 28th September 2014, when the airline will increase the schedule to four flights a week.

For more on the launching actions as they happened , follow airline's live blog at http://www.fastjet.com/tz/blog/entebbe-flight-launch-live-blog

fastjet operates internationally from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg, Lusaka, Harare and now Entebbe, and has a significant Tanzanian domestic network including flights from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, Kilimanjaro and Mbeya.

About fastjet: Fastjet Plc is a low-cost airline with ambitions to provide a pan-African service. Fastjet aims to deliver the same service as its European low-cost counterparts to the African…

Tanzania premier airline, Precision Air, has announced the temporary suspension of its operations to Hahaya (HAH) effective 24th Sept 2014.
According to the communication issued to Travel Partners, this suspension is the result of an unavoidable reorganisation of the airline's route network and flight schedules.
Passengers holding tickets on the affected flights will be rebooked on other airlines on involuntary basis where regulations allow. For cases where regulation prevents Precision Air from re-accommodating on other airlines, passengers will be refunded the full amount of the unutilized portions of their tickets with penalties waived. Arrangements have been made to facilitate the refunds through Precision Air or Travel Agent Offices.
About Precision Air: Precision Air is a Tanzanian airline based at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, with a minihub at Mwanza Airport. It is the largest airline in Tanzania based on fleet size, destinations served, and passengers…

The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) is investigating the crash of a Kenyan registered plane in Serengeti National Park on Sunday. The wreckage of the Safari Express Limited Fokker F-27 was sighted yesterday morning about 25 kilometres from the Kenya-Tanzania border. All the three occupants who were on board were burnt beyond recognition, according to Kenyan media reports. Yesterday, TCAA acting director general Charles Chacha said the wreckage of the aircraft was found within Serengeti National Park, but added that his team was yet to establish if the three people who were on board were killed in the crash. He said the aircraft departed from Mwanza Airport on Sunday at 7.26pm and that it was expected to land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 8.39pm. “The aircraft lost communication a few minutes after taking off and the last communication between the pilot and TCAA was at 8.05pm.  The  pilot did not say whether there was any problem,’’ Mr Chacha said in a statement…