COMPETITION ON DAR ES SALAAM TO ENTEBBE ROUTE HEATS UP AS ATCL PREPARES TO LAUNCH FLIGHTS
(Posted 25th August 2018)
Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are the traffic days when Air Tanzania will fly between Dar es Salaam and Entebbe, via Kilimanjaro, entering into direct competition with Precision Air which launched flights on the route in mid 2017.
Flights between Dar es Salaam and Bujumbura, via Kigoma, will then follow with a launch on Tuesday next week, operating three times a week every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. On this route will Air Tanzania be the only carrier as all other flights to Bujumbura presently route via Kigali on RwandAir or Nairobi on Kenya Airways.
Notably has Fastjet (Tanzania) been denied traffic rights between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma, courtesy of Tanzanian aviation authorities keen to please their masters and cement the monopoly on the route for the national airline, tilting the competitive playing field in their favour.
Flights to Bujumbura will use one of the airline’s Bombardier Q400 aircraft while flights to Entebbe will reportedly use the airline’s Boeing B787 to start with – showcasing the aircraft to the Ugandan traveling public in an attempt to lure them on to ATCL flights to Mumbai, which are due to launch in September.
Subsequently though will the route then also be served with Bombardier Q400 aircraft.
