THE Government has alerted airport authorities at Kilimanjaro International Airport and Mwanza airports to take early precautions in order to curb with the expected influx of passengers likely to occur at their airports. Remarks by the government were issued two weeks ago in Dar es Salaam by Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Dr. Charles Tibeza during the unveiling of the Fastjet airbus A319 low cost airline carrier that took to the skies for the first time in the country with passengers in a round trip journey from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza. Dr. Tibeza said that, fear has amounted at these airports with the looming influx of passengers who have turned up to book in large numbers to board an airbus plane which has opened its business in the country and come up with a strategy of offering low cost fare to its passengers. He said the passenger increase will be a great challenge to the government as according to operators, have been selling more than 100 flight tickets in a day for a domestic flight between Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro, and Dar es Salaam and Mwanza respectively.
Deputy Minister for Transport, Dr. Charles Tizeba addressing invited guests (not in the picture) during the launching of Fastjet plane, a low cost flight carrier in the country.
Dr. Tibeza has also asked the operators to clarify their tickets and flight schedules to the public in order to avoid any confusion which might arise between them and the passengers especially on their fare rate of $ 20 (Sh. 32,000) per trip destinations. Dr. Tibeza is in the view of the fact that, many Tanzanians do not believe the fare rates as they compare the fare for a normal bus operating from Dar es Salaam all the way to Mwanza and takes approximately 16 hours to arrive charges its passengers between Sh. 40,000 for ordinary bus and Sh. 45,000 for luxury. How comes that, a highly expensive airbus like this one here equipped with highly expensive facilities charges much lower in a journey that lasts within one hour or less? Queried one businessman, Shabir Iqbar a Tanzanian of Asian origin doing his businesses in Mwanza city. In clarification, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fastjet air company Edward Winter noted that, the average fares are expected to be $ 80 (Sh. 120,000) but now start from as low as $ 20 one-way excluding taxes and other charges for customers who book early. Meanwhile, the government has attracted investments in infrastructure development and has put in place requisite environment for private sector’s involvement in infrastructure development and air service provision which go hand in hand with legal and regulatory reforms. In view of this the government would continue with the improvement of infrastructure in its biggest airports in the country so as to ensure that the industry operates more efficiently.
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