Precision Air was established in 1993.
It started as a private charter air transport company
operating a five-seater piper Aztec aircraft. Its initial
line of business mainly entailed providing connections
to tourists visiting the rich natural attractions of Serengeti
National Park, Ngoro Ngoro Crater, in northern Tanzania,
the Zanzibar Island in the Indian Ocean and other parts
of the country from Arusha town as its base.
The vast nature of Tanzania coupled with a growing demand
for air transport services as the country started to embrace
a free market economy soon drove Precision Air into operating
scheduled flights maintaining Arusha town as its base.
First flights were scheduled using a seven-seater one
engine Cessna 207, one seven seater Cessna 402, two eleven-seater
Cessna 404s and the nineteen-seater LET 410 until mid
1990s when the airline introduced the bigger and more
comfortable ATR 42 fleet.
The fleet expansion has gone hand in hand with an increase
in the volumes of passenger uplift. The past two years
have witnessed a steady growth of total passenger uplift
of about 27% rising from 268, 580 passengers in 2004/05
financial year to 340,000 in 2005/06. The projection in
the airline’s current financial year which starts
in April 01 is to uplift 388,348 equivalent to a 14% increase
until end of the season in May next year.
The most significant turn around of ‘Tanzania’s
Finest’ as Precision Air is also known, came in
2003 when Kenya Airways acquired a minority 49% shareholding
leaving majority 51% shares in the control of one local
Tanzanian businessman. Since then, Precision Air has literally
turned its image into a professionally run modern airline.
The airline has since increased its frequencies and capacity
many folds with its fleet currently comprising eight aircraft.
They include four 47-seater ATR 42, one 70-seater ATR
72, one 64-seater ATR 72 and two LET 410. There are plans
to phase out the LET series from this year and introduce
the Boeing fleet.
The airline offers the widest connections to all major
towns in Tanzania including Mwanza, Tabora, Musoma, Shinyanga,
Kigoma, Bukoba, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Lindi, Mtwara and
Arusha.
Regionally, Precision Air flies to Nairobi and Mombasa
in Kenya as well as to Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi
in partnership with Kenya Airways and Air Malawi. In June
last year Precision Air became the first airline ever
to mount direct flights between Tanzania’s commercial
capital, Dar es Salaam and Dubai. Plans are afoot to start
operations to Pemba in Mozambique, Entebbe in Uganda as
well as Hahaya in Comoro from July this year.
The airline issued its first e-ticket on March 27 this
year to become the fifth airline in Africa to adopt this
latest technology in the aviation industry. E-ticketing
is a mandatory requirement for IATA member airlines to
be implemented by December 2007.
The company is also set to undergo IOSA audit in June
this year which would be another first for its name
in Tanzania’s aviation industry.
On the corporate social responsibility front, Precision
Air has identified three key community areas of support
namely education, assisting orphans and environmental
conservation into which the airlines pumps millions
of shillings every year. It also provides assistance
to unforeseen calamities and emergency situations. In
March 2006 for instance, the airline donated Tsh 15
Million (US 15,000) towards the National Food Relief
Fund, a special fund established by the government to
mobilize resources towards offsetting the ongoing famine
in Tanzania brought by last year’s prolonged drought
which resulted to poor harvests.
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