Air Tanzania

Air Tanzania
IATA ICAO Call sign
TC ATC TANZANIA
Founded11 March 1977 (1977-03-11) (as Air Tanzania Corporation)
Commenced operations1 June 1977; 47 years ago (1977-06-01)
AOC #TCAA/AOC/001
HubsDar es Salaam
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer programTwiga Miles
Fleet size15
Destinations25
Parent companyTanzanian Government (100%)
HeadquartersDar es Salaam, Tanzania
Key people
ProfitDecrease TSh −56,640 million (US$−21.74 million) (FY 2023)[1]
Total assetsTSh 330,927.28 million (US$140.82 million) (FY 2022)[2]
Total equityTSh −157,716.72 million (US$−67.11 million) (FY 2022)[2]
Employees826 (June 2024)[3]
Websitewww.airtanzania.co.tz

Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) (Swahili: Kampuni ya Ndege ya Tanzania) is the flag carrier airline of Tanzania. It is based in Dar es Salaam, with its hub at Julius Nyerere International Airport.

It was established as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) in 1977 after the dissolution of East African Airways and has been a member of the African Airlines Association since its inception.[4] The airline was wholly owned by the Tanzanian government until 2002 when it was partially privatised in partnership with South African Airways, but the government repurchased the shares in 2006, making it once again a wholly owned government company.

In 2016, the Tanzanian government under President John Magufuli initiated a new drive to revive the national carrier by acquiring additional aircraft from Bombardier[5] and Boeing.[6] The airline further intended to double its fleet to 14 aircraft by 2022 and increase its long-haul and regional routes.[7]

A 2021 government report by the Auditor General warned about the company's huge debts. Air Tanzania flights flying abroad ran the risk of being impounded due to huge debts incurred by the company. Despite the warnings, the government of Tanzania continued to finance the airline and announced its biggest bailout of US$194 million for the airline.

  1. ^ "Air Tanzania leads loss-making parastatals despite government investment". The Citizen. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Annual General Report" (PDF). National Audit Office. 29 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  3. ^ Yussuf, Issa (18 August 2024). "Milestone as Dar receives new plane". Daily News. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Current Members: ATCL". African Airlines Association. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  5. ^ "Bombardier Wins Orders for Two CS300 and One Q400 Aircraft from Tanzania". Bombardier Inc. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Tanzania takes delivery of second Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner". Xinhua. 26 October 2019. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Tanzania state carrier aims to double fleet to 14 planes by 2022: official". Reuters. 26 October 2019.