AIR TANZANIA EYES LONDON GATWICK FLIGHTS FROM LATE THIS YEAR
(Posted 05th August 2019)
Air Tanzania, in preparations for the launch of flights to the United Kingdom later this year, has reportedly been granted landing slots at London’s Gatwick Airport.
Next to resolve for the airline will be the prerequisite landing rights and other related licences and it is understood that this process is already underway.
From information received it would appear that from late this year is Air Tanzania planning to operate three flights a week, using their Boeing B787 Dreamliner, to fly from Dar es Salaam via Kilimanjaro to Gatwick, every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, returning via JRO to DAR on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.
At present will Air Tanzania have to meet European Union safety standards though, should BREXIT happen on 31st of October, it would be the British authorities to process the application.
Tanzania has not had nonstop flight connections to the UK for several years now since British Airways, inexplicably, withdrew from the route between London Heathrow and Dar es Salaam despite high loadfactors. The route closure was one of many in Africa at the time and robbed Tanzanians and visitors to the country of a direct airlink between the UK and East Africa’s largest country.
The flights, once operational, will put further pressure on some loss making airlines in the region presently flying from their hub airports in East Africa to the UK as Air Tanzania is expected to gain market share at their expense.
Meanwhile has Air Tanzania also passed IATA’s IOSA audit, short for IATA Operational Safety Audit, which today is an almost mandatory requirement when foreign countries process various permits for landing rights. ATCL is after Precision Air the second airline in Tanzania to meet these requirements.
It is also a standard requirements to engage in negotiations with other IATA airlines for interline and code share agreements. Air Tanzania returned into the IATA fold after the government settled long outstanding debts with the IATA clearing house in preparations at the time for the relaunch of the airline.
