ATCL itajititimua kweli?

Gangi Longa · 2012-10-12T11:39:11+00:00

Tanzania air service in for changesImage via proactiveinvestors.co.uk BY DR. WOLFGANG H. THOME, ETN UGANDA | OCT 11, 2012(eTN) - At the recently-concluded World Routes meeting in Abu Dhabi, senior staff of new kid on the block, FastJet, told the media that their first route will be from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, and is supposed to be with three daily frequencies using an Airbus A319 with about 150 seats in an all-economy configuration. Flights on domestic routes between Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro and Mwanza are expected to follow, before adding more destinations where an A319 can land and where the expected traffic loads would allow financially viable operations. Aviation analysts are, however, doubtful how the model of a European LCC can be transferred to Eastern Africa, where NO secondary airports with substantially lower charges and handling fees are available to bring costs down and where regulatory fees and taxes could be 10 times as much as a once-floated fare of just US$20 per sector, preventing a sharp rise in demand for air travel, which would be required to fill the seats. In addition, it seems the Tanzanian authorities are hell bent to get Air Tanzania back into the air before FastJet commences operations, cognizant of the fact that should yet another competitor enter the market before ATCL flies once more, the start for the national airline could be short lived and expensive. Our government speaks in two tongues, said a regular source from Dar es Salaam before adding, They invite investors with big promises and like you will see here, they will heavily subsidize Air Tanzania to tile the market in their favor. Meanwhile they will tax the new airline and make them spend money but at the same time compete through a different arm of government. That is NOT what a free market economy is supposed to be. These antiquated policies have harmed Precision Air and others before, because it is difficult to compete with a company which does not apparently need to make profits. OK, Precision is now too big to outcompete and is reliable and offers good service, but with FastJet, they have not started and will find not just Precision and Kenya Airways to contend with but also now ATCL again. Too late now for sure for the new airline to re-consider as the aircraft has reportedly been procured and flight operations are due to start by November or at the latest early December, at which time ATCL might well be back on the Nairobi route themselves, making a market entry then a financially bloody battle for the newcomers. Also, a regular aviation source from Dar es Salaam has passed on information, that Fly 540 Tanzania will halt their operations from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro and Mwanza but also Zanzibar, effective tomorrow, October 13 until further notice. The short notice is bound to further unsettle travelers by air, burned in the past by no notice withdrawals of service by Air Tanzania and the generally less-than-optimal reputation of 540 will take another PR hit by the sudden cancellation of flights with but 9 days notice, going by the date attached to their announcement even if it only reached widely 2 days ago. Said the source: 540 is trying to explain that they are making room for the new FastJet to begin operations. That is pure rubbish. You fly your services to the last moment and then the new boys step in and take over. Halting their flights, therefore, must have other reasons, and you can guess what those are. Load factors will range high on my own list for sure. From me it is good riddance to 540, they have not made any real impact and their low-cost pretence never translated into low-cost tickets. Lets wait and see now when FastJet will actually start to fly an A319 between Dar to Kilimanjaro and then Mwanza considering the capacity already on the route by Precision and now ATCL returning to these destinations also. They will find out soon what flying in this part of the world is all about. FastJet ready to start flying and Fly540 ready to stop Tanzania air service in for changes - ...

Thread starter Gangi Longa
Start date Oct 12, 2012

Gangi Longa

JF-Expert Member

Oct 12, 2012

Ndinani

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ATCL itajititimua kweli?

Gangi Longa

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Ndinani

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