Precision Air has just confirmed that effective 16th of March they
will increase frequencies on key routes as a result of risen demand.
Flights between Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro will go up from four a day
to five a day, Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar (Unguja) flights will move from
two a day to three a day and flights to the country’s ‘gas capital’ Mtwara will increase from daily to ten a week.
On all these routes will the airline use their ATR turboprop aircraft
which provide the right size for flexible operations deploying either
the ATR 42 or the larger ATR 72 depending on booked passengers.
The airline also confirmed the withdrawal of their own flights
between Tanzania and Uganda, leaving the operation to code share partner
Air Uganda, which now flies daily with a CRJ200 50 seater regional jet
between Entebbe and Dar es Salaam while Kilimanjaro flights are combined
with Mombasa. A source close to Air Uganda has expressed satisfaction
over the agreement, saying that such cooperation will increase load
factors and make the route more profitable, benefitting both partners
equally.
Ms. Sauda Rajab, CEO of Precision Air, in a statement availed to this correspondent, said among other things: ‘Entebbe
flights will with effect of 16th March be suspended and all passengers
booked with us will be transferred either to code share partner Air
Uganda or be rebooked with Kenya Airways’.
From this development it appears clear that Precision is banking on
the use of their more economical ATR fleet on domestic routes while
competing with FastJet, offering passengers a wider option of departure
times at literally equal rates – as far as ticket purchases on the day
of travel or shortly prior to travel is concerned – while banking on
flights to destinations like Mtwara where the ATR turboprops can land
and take off whereas the Airbus A319 of FastJet cannot due to runway and
other operational limitations.
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