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Tanzania: Press Releases: Precision Air Unveils New Aircraft |
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Tuesday, 23 March 2010 |
Dar es Salaam, 18 March 2010 --- Precision Air, in which Kenya Airways has a 49% stake, has launched its fifth brand new ATR42-500.
The official launch at the Julius Nyerere International Airport was graced by the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Development, Hon. Hezekiah N. Chibulunje, and attended by Precision Air board members, members of diplomatic missions and aviation stakeholders. Precision Air is Tanzania's leading airline.
The new aircraft bearing the registration PWE and the name Kigoma in recognition support of the business received from the people from the region arrived in Dar es Salaam Sunday night from France. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Hon. Chibulunje said; The launching of this new aircraft is not only a new mile stone achieved by Precision Air, but also for the country of increasing the fleet size for catering for passenger air services. On behalf of the Government of Tanzania, I sincerely congratulate you for what your achievement.”
He added; “Air transport caters for long distances, where time saving for passengers as well as for perishable and valuable goods is a priority demand. It also provides the best and easy accessibility to distant and remote areas where surface transport is limited. Such areas include those of high potential in agricultural, manufacturing and tourism activities and those areas with high mineral deposits. Flying to these areas play a great role to speedy economic growth. Air transport also facilitates international trade and makes business travel easier and efficient.”
The new aircraft, just like the previous one delivered in July 2009, will feature state-of-the-art inflight entertainment allowing the passenger to watch movies and listen to music during flight.
PWE will be the fifth in seven brand new aircraft that the airline has ordered from ATR of France. In 2006, PW and ATR signed a USD129m deal to deliver seven brand new aircraft. The first aircraft, PWA, was delivered in March 2008 and the second, PWB, in November of the same year. The third and fourth, PWC and PWD, were delivered in April 2009 and July 2009 respectively. Under the terms of the deal ATR is required to deliver two aircraft each for the first two years and three in the final year. The final two aircraft will arrive in June and July this year.
The new ATR brings the total number of fleet to eight five of which are brand new. Precision Air also operates a Boeing 737.
The delivery of the seven new aircraft has continued unabated despite the recent economic crunch largely due to the company's efficient management. The airline has the largest local network comprising; Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Mwanza, Kigoma, Tabora, Musoma, Shinyanga, Mtwara. Regionally Precision Air flies to Nairobi, Mombasa and Entebbe.
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