Tanzania’s government will buy two new Airbus jets and an aircraft from De Havilland Canada as part of a fleet expansion plan for the national flag carrier, the president said.
President John Magufuli has personally taken charge of the revival of Tanzania’s loss-making state carrier Air Tanzania Company Limited, spending hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing eight new planes since 2016.
President Magufuli “has issued instructions for the purchase of three additional aircraft (two Airbus jets and a De Havilland) to expand air services and improve tourism,” the president’s office said in a statement.
The presidency did not say how much the new aircraft will cost.
The airline’s currernt fleet includes a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, two Airbus A220-300 jets and three DHC Dash 8-400 aircraft, formerly known as Bombardier Q400 turboprop.
Longview Aviation Capital bought the turboprop aircraft programme from Canada’s Bombardier last year and revived the previous model name under a restored corporate brand of De Havilland Aircraft of Canada.
ATCL launched maiden flights to India’s financial capital Mumbai last week as it expands routes with the acquisition of new aircraft.
Tanzania hopes revival of the national airline will boost tourism, the country’s biggest foreign exchange earner.
Earnings from tourism jumped more than seven percent last year to around $2.4 billion, helped by an increase in arrivals from foreign visitors, according to government data.
