PRECISION LAUNCHES MBEYA FLIGHTS AMID DEMANDS TO HAVE FUEL AT SONGWE
Precision Air on Wednesday launched the long awaited scheduled flights to Songwe Airport, which serves Mbeya and the wider region of the Southern Tanzanian highlands.
The inaugural flight carried among others the Founder and current Chairman of Precision Air Mr. Michael Shirima, and the Director of Transport Services in the Ministry of Transport who officiated on behalf of government at a function held at Songa Airport.
The scheduled flights will for the time being operate every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, until demand justifies daily services. A regular aviation source from Dar es Salaam said on the occasion of passing the details: ‘This is a good day for Tanzanians now that they can fly from Mbeya to Dar and everywhere else in the country and further abroad. Precision is the only airline with enough planes and the financial strength to open such new routes. They are connecting Tanzania for Tanzanians across the country and not just look at the routes between Dar and Arusha or Mwanza which is what others without a vision for a better Tanzania do. But the first flight also showed that our government has still not understood completely what aviation is about. Because of no fuel available at Songwe that aircraft could only take 50 passengers and invited guests instead of the 70 seats it got. When you have to bring fuel for a return flight along, you restrict passenger and cargo capacity which makes the operation more expensive. When government rehabilitates our secondary airports and aerodromes in regional centres, they should ensure that there is a fuel facility in place when they launch, not wait to have airlines suffer the financial burden for such oversights. Those responsible for this should wake up and perform FastTrack now and remember this when the next aerodrome is returned to service’.
The cost of a return ticket between Dar es Salaam and Mbeya has been given as 249.000 Tanzania Shillings with a one way fare of 165.000 TShs. Happy Landings to passengers and crew on this new route.
