AfricaPress-Tanzania: DODOMA Airport is undergoing a major facelift to be able to accommodate midsize jetliners including Airbus A321-capable of comfortably flying 170 to 200 passengers in a standard two-class cabin or enlarged to 220 travellers in a more high-density layout.
The revelation was made here yesterday by Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Eng Isack Kamwelwe , shortly after inspecting ongoing expansion work to enlarge additional 250 meters stretch that would allow mid-sized commercial and private aircraft to land.
He said the plan is to ensure the airport offers services to aircrafts with more than 200 passengers on board with ease.
According to the minister, the expansion work does not interfere with the planned construction of Msalato International Airport, which the African Development Bank (AfDB) had approved 272 million US dollars’ financial support.
“This airport is important to residents of Dodoma and in the neighbouring regions in the country,” he said.
The airport received major renovations to allow more aircrafts to land ahead of the government’s decision to shift its administration from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, triggering a daily landing from three to nine planes.
“But there has been pressure for the renovation to accommodate larger aircraft,” said Eng Kamwelwe.
Initially, the government had floated tenders process to award a contract for the Msalato Airport, however, when the Covid-19 pandemic was being felt, the State had to push forward dates for opening tendering boxes to next month.
“The government continues with preparation for the project to take off immediately after awarding the tender to a winning bidder.
The process is also parallel with the construction work of the first outer ring road in the city,” he added.
The Minister further said that the construction work on the 112km-long highway will have three contractors.
On his part, Dodoma Regional Chief for Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads), Eng Leonard Chimagu assured the minister that the agency will supervise to ensure quality and timely completion of the project would be guaranteed.
