After British Airways (BA) decision to close shop in the country for
failure to operate profitably, the government has started looking for
options on direct flights to London.
"The Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources in collaboration with
the Ministry of Transport had initiated preliminary talks with the UK
carrier, Virgin Atlantic, with hopes of reaching an agreement to take
over the route left by the BA," he said.
He said Virgin Atlantic, the biggest UK private airline closed the
five-times weekly route to Nairobi in September 2012, after operating
for the last five years.
He said the closure of BA business in the
country was not good news because it will not only cause loss of
revenues and other social benefits but also inconvenience some
travellers who were taking direct flights to Heathrow Airport in London
from Dar es Salaam.
Although assessment on how the withdrawal of BA business in the
country will affect the tourism industry has not been done, Mr Musa said
surveys show that large number of tourists from UK were already using
other airlines like Emirates, Qatar and Ethiopian which have daily
flights to Tanzania.
Credible sources in the airline industry said the BA was among the
few airways that was shipping sensitive cargo including light weapons,
local and foreign banknotes and minerals such as gold, diamond,
Tanzanite to the international markets.
A statement issued recently states that customers booked to fly with
British Airways after March 31, the official day of closure of business,
will be offered a full refund or be re-booked onto flights to or from
Nairobi, Entebbe or Lusaka.
Swissport Tanzania Limited Chief Executive
Officer Gaudence Temu said that his company will suffer from the
airline's decision to stop flights to Dar es Salaam because they have
been providing cargo handling services since 1985 when the firm was
incorporated.
"We will definitely lose considerable revenue not only for the nation
but also for Swissport (T) Limited that has been handling all BA
cargoes for many years," remarked Mr Temu.
Mr Temu, who is also Chairman
of the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania, pointed out that the United
Kingdom is one of the biggest tourist markets for the country and the
suspension of the flights directly to and from the country would affect
the flow of tourists and hence the badly needed foreign exchange from
the sub-sector.
Source: The Daily News, www.dailynews.co.tz, reported by Sebastian Mrindoko in Dar es Salaam
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