Air Tanzania takes one step forward and two steps back

Things were beginning to look good for Air Tanzania. They recently took delivery of a freighter Boeing 767-300F and the engine troubles they had been experiencing on the A220-300s were being resolved. The airline even had one of its A220-300s which had been seized in the Netherlands for almost a year returned to them.

Unfortunately, their good luck was short-lived. The Tanzanian government, which owns all of the aircraft operated by Air Tanzania, lost a court battle and now the government is required to pay $109.5 million to an Australian mining company. If the need arose, the company claimed its willingness to attach high value assets such as aircraft to force the Tanzanian government to pay their debt.

Previous Aircraft Seizures

Air Tanzania is no stranger to its aircraft being seized. The first time this happened was in 2017 when a Canadian construction firm Stirling Civil Engineering seized the airline’s new Bombardier Q400 plane in Canada. The aircraft was returned in 2018.

In 2019, in Johannesburg, an A220-300 was seized over land claim issues. The aircraft was eventually returned the same year. Although the aircraft was returned, Air Tanzania was forced to stop operating flights between Dar Es Salaam and Johannesburg. The airline has not operated on this route since 2019 when the aircraft was seized. The third time was when an A220 was seized in the Netherlands on request of a Swedish energy company which was owed $165 million.