Air Tanzania on a proper footing

Ladislaus Matindi is proud of the “diligent” work undertaken by his management team in the latter part of the 2010s to institute a strong safety, governance, and commercial structure, and bring the airline back into the International Air Transport Association (IATA) fold.

Air Tanzania’s poor record had made it an air transport industry outcast. However, the team’s work enabled the airline to rejoin the international body’s banking and settlement system, and become accredited to IATA’s operational safety audit.

“We were bringing an airline up from the ground,” explained Matindi, who was tasked by the government as it injected fresh capital into the airline to oversee its transformation. Based in Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest city and major financial centre, the aim is “to meet investor desire to see the airline has a route to profitability and is meeting the challenge of the market”, he said.

“Covid did derail the mission, but we are regaining traffic rapidly,” he added.

In 2019, the airline carried two million passengers, which dropped to 700,000 in 2021 but should recover to 1.2 million this year. “Demand is growing as people have no fear of travelling anymore,” he enthused.

Today, Air Tanzania is operating to 11 international destinations and 13 domestic points. International routes are up from the pre-pandemic eight, with services added to Kenya’s Nairobi, Lubumashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ndola, Zambia.

In addition to expanding its east African network, the carrier wants to add London to its long-haul roster of destinations, with the aim to begin services by the end of 2023, said Matindi. India and China, where it serves Mumbai and Guangzhou, are also good markets for Air Tanzania and frequencies to the Chinese city were scheduled to increase to four a week as African Aerospace was going to press.

At present, the airline operates a fleet of four Airbus A220s, five De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400s and two Boeing 787-8s.

At the Dubai Airshow in November 2021, it ordered a third 787-8, a pair of 737Max narrow-bodies and a 767-300 freighter. The majority of these aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2023, added Matindi.

This order completed its fleet planning for the coming three-to-four years, he concluded.