Tanzania will spend TZS468 billion shillings (USD201 million) to purchase five aircraft - including two B737-9 MAX - to be placed with Air Tanzania (TC, Dar es Salaam) in the coming financial year, according to Transport Minister Makame Mbarawa.

Tabling his ministry's budget in the National Assembly on May 23, he said the government had entered contracts for the purchase of:

two B737-9 MAX;
one B787-8;
one B767-300F freighter; and
two DHC-8-Q400s.

The new aircraft are expected to be delivered in early 2023. The aim was to expand Air Tanzania's reach as a regional passenger and cargo carrier and to make Tanzania a main transport and logistics hub in East Africa, he said.

In the past nine months, Air Tanzania has received three new aircraft, including two A220-300s carrying 132 passengers each and one DHC-8-Q400 turboprop for 76 passengers, he added. By April 2022, Air Tanzania had a fleet of 11 active aircraft, compared to eight in February 2020, he said.

The announcement raised...