The Government of Tanzania has suggested Uganda Airlines (UR, Entebbe) position itself as a regional carrier feeding traffic to Air Tanzania (TC, Dar es Salaam) and its Dar es Salaam hub, Ugandan weekly The Observer has reported.

"Instead of competition, we can complement each other by Uganda Airlines flying passengers from its various destinations to Air Tanzania's hub at Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar-es-Salaam for Air Tanzania to take them to its long-haul destinations," Tanzania's deputy minister of Works, Transport and Communications Atashasta Nditiye said.

Nditiye added that Tanzania wanted to prevent unhealthy competition between the two small carriers catering to the same regional market.

However, his proposal did not mention Uganda Airlines' own long-haul ambitions, which would render his suggestion unlikely.

Air Tanzania operates a fleet of two A220-300s, two B787-8s, and three Dash 8-400s (as well as an inactive Dash 8-300, an inactive Fokker 28-3000 and an inactive Fokker 50). According to the ch-aviation fleets module, it has firm orders for a further two A220-300s and one more Dash 8-400. For its part, Uganda Airlines, which was relaunched this year, operates four CRJ900LRs but has two A330-800s on firm order from Airbus.

At present, the two airlines' networks overlap at relatively few points in East Africa, with both Air Tanzania and Uganda Airlines serving Kilimanjaro and Bujumbura from their respective hubs in Dar es Salaam and Entebbe. Both airlines also operate between the two gateways. However, the overlap will be much larger going forward with Uganda Airlines planning to launch flights to Mumbai International, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, Zanzibar, Harare International, and Lusaka, all of which are currently served by Air Tanzania.

Nditiye also said that the two countries should join forces in revamping the struggling East African Civil Aviation Academy, or Soroti Flying School. While initially owned by the East African Community (EAC), the flying school was nationalised by Uganda in 1977 and is barely functional at present.

The Ugandan Government said it has already initiated steps to revive the school on its own with the acquisition of new training aircraft.