A recent report by The Daily News has indicated a renewed commitment by the Tanzania airline Precision Air for the continued modernization of its fleet and, to this end, announced that its acquisition of new aircrafts is on schedule and continuing to progress.
According to a statement by Alphonse Kioko, Precision Air’s Managing Director, the company already has 4 ATR aircrafts operating in the country with an additional three scheduled to join the fleet next year in January, June and July.
“The new fleet has new equipment replacing the old one,” he said, “as our intention is to have the youngest fleet.”
In addition, Mr. Kioko also noted that, while April and May are typically difficult periods for doing business, Precision Air recorded high profits with a 12 percent increase in passengers.
“Passenger numbers are even better this year,” he said, “the company has recorded 346,884 passengers this year as compared to 278,169 last year.”
According to The Daily News, in response to several recent reports that have said that his company would be losing some of its aircrafts after having failed to pay its principals in France, Mr. Kioko said that the company was not currently involved in any legal disputes.
“We have no legal wrangles with any principal or manufacturers of our aircrafts,” he said, “this misleading information is absolutely an effort to undermine our company.”
In addition, Mr. Kioko also responded to the recent suspension of Tabora route, indicating that it was the result of maintenance to the aircraft and, due to maintenance of the Kigoma airport, Kigoma could also not be accessed.
According to Mr. Kioko, at times defects in the aircraft, such as air conditioning malfunctions, did, indeed surface, but that these technical problems were always addressed immediately and that many of these technical problems will be corrected with the modernization of the aircrafts through the acquisition of new planes.
The daily News report went on to indicate that the airline is currently in the process of constructing a hanger in order to take care of the maintenance of its aircrafts.
The hanger has cost the airline a total of USD 5.5 million and is expected to be completed later next month.
Mr. Kioko went on to explain that safety was a top priority for the airline, for both passengers and employees.
“We comply with all the air audit requirements and the Tanzania Civil Aviation inspects our facilities as well as International Aviation Safety Association (IASA),” he said, “We have over all these years been issued with clean reports that show that we meet all the safety standards both locally and internationally.”
