Media/news company
Mwananchi Communication
Limmited
Summary
· The two planes have been grounded since October 2022 due to failure of its engines with the manufacturer allegedly failing to secure new engines in the process causing losses to its customers who purchased the planes, including ATCL.
The saga of Air Tanzania’s two
Airbus A220 planes which have been grounded has taken a new course after the
carrier took the matter to the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) with four
African airlines collaborating to pressurise the manufacturers to find a
solution.
The two planes have been grounded
since October 2022 due to failure of its engines with the manufacturer
allegedly failing to secure new engines in the process causing losses to its
customers who purchased the planes, including ATCL.
Currently, ATCL has a fleet of 12
aircraft, of which three are grounded due to technical and legal issues,
including two Airbus with the capacity to carry between 120 and 160 passengers.
Speaking on the state of the carrier
ATCL’s Director General, Ladislaus Matindi said that along with the plans they
have to ensure that they provide a stable service to meet the growing demand of
the market, this has been interrupted by the problem of travel delays.
He was speaking on Friday March 10,
during a fourth meeting of the second council of ATCL employees which took
place in Zanzibar, Mr Matindi reiterated that they are continuing to press the
manufacturers in collaboration with other airlines that purchased similar
planes.
"At the moment we are
collaborating with other organizations that use such planes, including Air
Senegal, Egypt to solve this problem quickly," he said.
He said that the African Airlines
Association has decided to intervene to make sure the manufacturer complies.
According to him Egypt has 12
aircraft of that make and out of which 10 have been grounded for similar
defects.
He said that the manufacturers will
have to pay ATCL compensation as spelt out in the contract, but it has taken a
long time now and now it is no longer the issue of compensation, instead it is
about the mounting losses that the company is incurring.
Mr Matindi did not however state how
much losses the carrier was making as a result of the grounding of the two aircraft.
He said that the only viable
solution is for the manufacturer to offer the carrier new engines or planes
that can be used in the short term as they figure out the repairs of the
grounded aircraft.
In another development, Matindi said
ATCL is set to receive 5 new planes, including a Boeing 767 cargo plane with a
capacity of 54 tons that will be the first to be used in the country.
He said right now there is a lot of
cargo, with Zanzibar alone accounting for six to eight tons every week, but
they can only transport two tons, especially those of sea products that are in
high demand in China.
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