AIR TANZANIA’S B787 UNDERGOING FINAL TESTS BEFORE DELIVERY
(Posted 01st July 2018)
(Picture courtesy of Boeing)
Final preparations are underway now for Air Tanzania’s new Boeing B787-8 delivery, thought to take place as early as next weekend.
Ground tests and test flights have reportedly been almost completed, signalling that the hand over of the aircraft is imminent.
Under an airline revival scheme – Air Tanzania was more or less moribund over the past decade and burdened with huge financial liabilities – has the Tanzanian government already received three Bombardier Q400’s, the last delivery long delayed over a legal tussle to force Tanzania to make award payments to a private company which took the matter to the Canadian courts. More Bombardier / Airbus aircraft are due for delivery later this year when two CS300’s should be received in Dar es Salaam
However, the wide body aircraft will arrive ahead of those regional short and medium distance aircraft, defying conventional aviation doctrine that an airline first needs to build up a regional feeder network before launching wide body intercontinental flights so as to achieve break even load factors as the earliest opportunity.
Regular aviation sources in Dar es Salaam have confirmed that Air Tanzania will launch flights to Mumbai, three times a week, with the new B787 Dreamliner, as early as September this year.
How this will play out remains to be seen as political dictates rather than common sense aviation practice seems to rule the day.
In comparison did RwandAir take the better part of the last decade to build up a regional and African feeder network before acquiring two Airbus A330’s for long haul operations, one of which is now deployed on the route from Kigali to Brussels and on to London while the other aircraft is deployed on the route from Kigali to Lagos, back to Kigali and on to Dubai before returning to base in Rwanda. RwandAir now operates a fleet of 12 aircraft, including two Bombardier Q400’s, two Bombardier CRJ900 jets – due to be phased out it is understood and to be replaced by additional B737’s – two B737-700’s, four B737-800’s and two Airbus A330’s with at least one perhaps two more being lined up to eventually allow the airline to launch flights to New York and to Guangzhou.
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