Air Tanzania’s woes never seem to end, as the country’s civil aviation authority last week demanded payment of a year’s worth of outstanding bills and fees owed to them. The request for payment was made by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) directly to government, while also pointing out that fuel, handling, and other charges had been settled through governmental grants to the financially-starved airline, yet TCAA’s fees for parking, landing, and navigational fees, among others, have accrued beyond reason.
The TCAA is presently undertaking a series of upgrades on upcountry secondary and tertiary airfields and aerodromes, and a source in Dar es Salaam has told this correspondent that the ATCL dues, once paid, would largely go into these projects and to pay for other budgeted expenses. The source also said that it was unlikely that TCAA would ground Air Tanzania over non payment of fees anytime soon, but that it was an option as a last resort to compel the carrier to pay up or else make government pay up on their behalf.
TCAA had, however, grounded ATCL over issues on certification and documentation about 1 ½ years ago, dealing a severe blow to their business, much of which has since then been taken over by private airlines like Precision Air, which has been on an aggressive expansion course both on domestic routes and on regional routes, while at the same time also expanding their fleet. ATCL only recently lost a B737-200 on landing in Mwanza, affecting domestic operations even further, although it has since been confirmed that another B737 would be leased soon to replace the damaged aircraft, which according to a report filed here last week was to be written off.
