Air Tanzania becomes the first African airline to operate the Airbus A220, the newest member of the Airbus family of civil aircraft.
The aircraft was received at the assembly site in Mirabel, Quebec, in the presence of company officials and Tanzanian government authorities.
Air Tanzania, which becomes the fifth company in the world to use an A220, plans with this acquisition to further expand its national and regional market and to open new routes to India and the Middle East from its Dar es Salaam base.
“With the arrival of the A220 in our fleet, we are confident that we can increase our presence in the booming African markets and beyond, as we open new lines,” said Ladislaus Matindi, managing director & CEO of Air Tanzania Company Limited quoted by Airbus press release.
Evolving in the 100-150 seat segment (with a range of 5,020 km), the A220 is deemed to have “fuel consumption of at least 20 percent per seat compared to previous-generation aircraft” .
Airbus claims a purchase order for 400 of these aircraft while a study estimates that 7,000 aircraft in this category will be active over the next 20 years.
