One of the leading participants in airline services for the Tanzania transport sector, Precision Air, has recently announced the launch of its thirteenth destination in the East African region, a direct route to Nairobi from Mwanza.
According to a report by the Citizen, Precision Air recently released a statement indicating that, as a result of the new route, the airline would be able to double its frequencies to Nairobi from four to eight flights per week.
“This brings to 13 the total number of destinations served by Precision Air within East Africa and a total of 381 departures a week from the destinations making the airline to have the widest network in Tanzania,” read the Precision Air statement.
Prior to the launch of the latest direct route to Mwanza, each of the four weekly flights were initiated from the Kilimanjaro International Airport.
Following the launch, the managing director of Precision Air, Alfonce Kioko, has said that this direct flight to Mwanza will help to guarantee a shorter flying time as well as help to improve connections both into and out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for flights heading for South Africa, Dubai, London, Entebbe and Doha.
Mr. Kioko went on to explain that the airline’s intention behind their investment in the new route was to help improve the services that were offered in order to meet the needs of their customers.
“This route has been established to meet high demand of business travelers especially those in the mining industry which is growing very fast, fish and other businesses done in Mwanza,” he said, “Total passengers airlifted through the Precision Air partnership have increased tremendously from 216,990 in 2004 to 538,305 this year.”
Precision Air, which is 49 percent owned by Kenya Airways and has a market share of 49 percent in Tanzania with an annual turnover of USD 65 million, is currently the only IOSA certified Airline in the country and is 100 percent compliant with electronic ticketing requirements.
In addition, following the signing of a USD 129 million deal in 2006 for the acquisition of seven new aircrafts with plane maker ATR of France, Precision Air currently maintains the largest fleet size in the country.
Following the launch of its flight route to its thirteenth destination, Precision Air has announced plans to continue to expand locally to the target areas of Mbeya, Songea, Dodoma, Pemba Zanzibar and Tanga as well international destinations including Harare, Johannesburg, Luanda, Lubumbashi, Pemba and Nampula in Mozambique, and Lilongwe.
