Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government is planning to purchase other planes for long and short distance flights, a move that will further strengthen the wings of the national carrier, Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL).
The planes in question are apart from the three new much awaited aircrafts that the government has already bought, pending for the arrival, the minister for Works and Transport Dr Leonard Chamuriho has said.
He made the remarks when launching the ATCL’s Twiga business lounge at the Terminal three of the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), in Dar es Salaam over the weekend.
According to him, apart from buying the passenger planes, the government is also buying cargo jets for the sake of exploring opportunities on airlifting of goods within and outside the country.
“Apart from the planes that the government has already bought and are set to arrive in the year 2021/2022, we will buy another ones to be airlifting passengers and cargoes, this will expand ATCLs business wings, play a crucial role in generating more income and contribute to the country’s economic growth”, he explained.
Currently, the government has 12 planes including the three that are yet to arrive; this means, with the effective implementation of the ongoing plans, it will add more jets to the ATCL.
The minister went on to ask ATCL management and board of directors to continue working hard for the corporation to continue offering better services and compete in the aviation sector.
“The lounge we are launching today is a clear indication that the government, through ATCL, is dedicated to continue improving services being offered by the national carrier, it’s a matter of continuing to make better use of the available opportunities and improve services,” he noted.
On his part, the ATCL Chief Executive Officer Engineer Ladislaus Matindi asked the government to work on recommendations from the report of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) for the year 2019/2020, including taking over all ATCL’s debts.
He also asked for a review of the lease agreement between ATCL and the Tanzania Government Flight Agency (TGFA) for better performance of Air Tanzania.
“We, the management and all staff, will continue being creative to come up with more strategies that would enable the company to attract more customers,” said Eng Matindi.
Speaking of the launched lounge, the ATCL boss said the facility has capacity of accommodating 200 passengers at a go, saying the same will be done at the JNIA’s terminal II and at the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA).
