AIR TANZANIA GEARS UP FOR FIRST NEW AIRCRAFT DELIVERY IN A GENERATION
(Posted 31st August 2016)
(ATCL’s newest bird, a Bombardier Q400NG, msn 4495)
Still registered with a Canadian tail number is Air Tanzania’s new Bombardier Q400NG now undergoing ground and aerial testing before formally being handed over on the 13th of September to airline and government representatives. The aircraft however will be put on the Tanzanian registry and eventually bear a 5H registration number, details to be advised here when available.
Captains and co-pilots are presently finalising their type conversion training to be able to fly this aircraft type when it has been cleared for operations by Tanzanian aviation authorities.
The ferry flight from the Bombardier assembly plant is expected to take an estimated three days after taking off from Canada on the 16th of September before the aircraft then lands, tentatively, on the 19th of September in Dar es Salaam.
The assembly of a second such aircraft is also advanced, due for delivery a few weeks later, no doubt then boosting Air Tanzania’s operational capacity to resume flights to more domestic destinations and increase frequencies on key routes.
