PRECISION AIR RETURNS TO BUKOBA – LOOKS AT EXPANSION
The rise of Precision Air to the level of a quasi national airline – in view of the decline of Air Tanzania over the past years – has brought new connections to the Tanzanian travelling public. It was learned earlier in the week that Precision has resumed their scheduled services linking Mwanza with its ‘opposite number’ Bukoba once again, the two lake side municipalities being separated by Lake Victoria. As reported here, when Precision phased out their Let 410 aircraft the Bukoba aerodrome was not equipped to handle the larger ATR 42, but with a runway extension now completed and the general facilities of the Bukoba airport upgraded, flight operations with the larger aircraft are now possible. The ‘maiden’ flight to Bukoba was incidentally operated by an ATR 42 with the fitting name ‘Bukoba’ to the delight of the crowd and officials from Bukoba greeting the ‘inaugural’ flight.
At the same occasion the company’s top management also confirmed that they were expecting the delivery of a leased B737, allowing them to ‘spread their wings’ across the wider region with flights to Johannesburg, Pemba and Nampula in Mozambique, Moroni in the Comoros, Lubumbashi in Congo DR and Lusaka in Zambia.
Precision Air’s key shareholder is Kenya Airways but an IPO has been scheduled already during which the present owners will divest an initial 30 percent to be floated on the Dar es Salaam stock exchange, which will allow Tanzanian individuals and businesses to share in the success of Precision Air, give them greater financial strength and cement its present market position as Tanzania’s leading airline. What a success story it has been up to now and only the sky is the limit for future and further growth and expansion. Watch this space.
