Air Tanzania (TC, Dar es Salaam) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director, Ladislaus Matindi, has outlined the carrier's early A220-300 and B787-8 deployment plans ahead of either type's delivery later this year.

As previously reported, the Tanzanian state-owned carrier expects to take delivery of its two CSeries jets from Bombardier Aerospace (BBA, Montréal Trudeau) in June this year to be followed by its maiden B787-8 from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) in July. All aircraft are being procured via state-owned lessor, TGF - Tanzania Government Flight (Dar es Salaam).

Speaking to African Aerospace in November last year, Matindi said the CS300s would be used to open up five or six regional routes in Southern and West Africa including Johannesburg O.R. Tambo (South Africa), Zambia, and Zimbabwe, as well as Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, and one or two destinations in the Middle East.

The B787, on the other hand, will be deployed on intercontinental routes to China and India initially, followed by Europe in a second phase. Talks are already underway to firm up an option for a second of the type, the CEO said.

To help boost the viability of its new services, Air Tanzania will undergo IOSA certification later this quarter. If secured, this will then allow the carrier to develop commercial partnerships with other, more largescale operators.

“Our business plan tells us what to do. We have theories about how we will fill them [the aircraft]," he said. "We know it is not an easy plan and strategy, but we adopted it knowing we have that capacity. Tanzania is a country with enormous tourism potential – if we work hard and have a good plan, that number will be within reach without any problem.”

Air Tanzania currently operates two Dash 8-400/Q400s on domestic services as well as short-haul regional hops to the Comoros. According to Matindi, once Air Tanzania takes delivery of third Q400, it will then consider its options insofar as the future of its ageing near 20-year-old Dash 8-300 is concerned.