Withdrawal of Tanzanian Air Corporation creates the gap
PRETORIA-BASED Dodson Aviation and a Tanzanian charter company, Precision Air, are holding discussions with Alliance Air to become their joint venture partners now that Tanzanian Air Corporation has withdrawn from the agreement.
The present agreement operators are African Joint Air Services (AJAS), who have been offered both aircraft and maintenance and spares facility in Pretoria by Dodson Aviation.
A partnership agreement drawn up by Alliance has already been accepted in principle by Precision Air, according to AJAS spokesman Gideon Kuanda. Precision Air is based in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusa, and according to Kuanda, the agreement is expected to be signed within a few days.
This will be followed by further discussions before the end of June with Dodson Aviation representatives. An announcement regarding the eventual agreement is expected to be made early in July, he said.
Alliance Air operates a regular service from Johannesburg to London via Tanzania and Uganda, as well as flights into Rwanda, and is planning a Dubai route in August. Its major shareholder is South African Airways in conjunction with the governments and airlines of Uganda and Tanzania. Tanzanian Airways have now withdrawn from the agreement, and it
is expected that Uganda Airways will follow when they are privatised.
