Mbarawa asks Sh500 billion for ATCL

 The government will spend another Sh500 billion during the coming financial year to jerk the performance of Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), Parliament heard yesterday.

With the number of tourists visiting the country on the rise, the government is confident that long-haul international flights between Dar es Salaam and leading destinations in Asia, Europe and America will further increase the number of visitors and bring the country its much-needed foreign exchange.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told Parliament on Thursday, April 6 that Tanzania received a total of 1,284,279 tourists in 2016, an increase of 12 per cent from the 1,137,182 visitors who came in 2015.

The visitors brought in $2 billion (about Sh4.5 trillion) last year.

And yesterday, requesting the parliament to endorse a total of Sh4.5 trillion for his ministry and its various departments and institutions during the 2017/18 financial year, the Minister of Works, Transport and Communication, Prof Makame Mbarawa, reiterated that the government plans to buy three more planes for ATCL.

“The money will be spent on completing the final payment for three aircrafts,” he said.

Of the aircrafts, two will be CS300 jetliners, each with a capacity to carry 127 passengers and a long-haul Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner which has a capacity of carrying 262 passengers.

“Part of the money will also be spent on paying for insurance packages and training for pilots, engineers and other cabin crew members….Part of it will also be used as start up costs,” he said.

In his remarks, the chairman for a parliamentary Infrastructure Development Committee, Prof Norman Sigala, said the government should consider turning ATCL into a completely independent and profit-making business entity.

“That way, it will be able to compete with the rest of other airline operators and bring profits….As things stand, ATCL is regarded to be a mere department within the ministry. We want it to be a completely independent business entity,” he said.

The ATCL board and management must be independent from the ministry, said Prof Sigala. The airline, he said, must be able to advertise its airline business globally.

Boeing Commercial Airlines announced in December last year that Tanzania was joining its Dreamliner family after the American multinational corporation signed a $224.6 million deal with the government.

“I am pleased to welcome Air Tanzania as the newest member of the Dreamliner family,” said Van Rex Gallard, Boeing Commercial Airplanes vice president in charge of Latin America, Africa and Caribbean sales.

“We are honoured that Air Tanzania has chosen the 787 to operate its long-haul operations. The 787 will significantly increase passenger numbers feeding on to its domestic flights, thereby boosting overall tourism to Tanzania,” Gallard added.

The said plane has a range of 13,620 kilometres, the capacity to carry 242 passengers in a two-class configuration, and a top speed of 593 miles per hour.