Bombardier D8 Q400 aircrafts to revolutionise ATCL services and operations.

ATCL Acting Executive Director, Eng Patrick Itule, said the new planes would restore the company’s business competitiveness against other airlines in the country. The aircrafts, currently undergoing final touches by a Canadian firm, Bombardier Company, are expected to arrive in the country in the third or fourth week of September this year.

“As a company we are expecting smooth operations after the arrival of the planes. Our biggest challenge was shortage of airplanes to enable us operate efficiently,” Eng Itule said, stressing that incompetent workers would not be tolerated.

Already, ATCL has established a task force to oversees issues of human capital in compliance with the current business environment. “We are well prepared in all fields of human activity. We have invested much in the development of the human capital and technology to attract more customers.

This goes with delivering services at affordable costs, ‘’ he added. ATCL’s Business Officer, Josephat Kagirwa, said the planes have the capacity to 76 passengers each and would make the company’s routes increase from two to ten.

“We’ll have two classes -- the Economy Class will accommodate 70 passengers while the Business Class will have six passengers per flight. With the arrival of these planes we can also increase domestic flights,” he said.

According Kagirwa, the planes are expected to fly to such destinations as Dodoma, Mwanza, Arusha, Mbeya, Kigoma, Tabora, Mpanda, Kilimanjaro, Mtwara, Zanzibar, Pemba, Bukoba and Comoro.

He, however, stressed that the mentioned destinations and many others would be established based on the company’s business feasibility study.

“Our aim is to ensure that we are ready to offer our services outside the country within the shortest possible time to fulfil our responsibility as the national flag-carrier,” he explained.

Kagirwa mentioned some of the challenges as shortage of enough trained manpower to cope with the transformation process and costly investments in modern technology.