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TANZANIA: BRITISH AIRWAYS LIKELY TO RESUME OPERATIONS
British Airways (BA) is likely to resume its operations in Tanzania, Deputy British High Commissioner to Tanzania, Julian Chandler has hinted. The envoy was responding to questions from the media regarding the UK-Tanzania business relations during a press conference held in Dar es Salaam to launch the Europe week in Tanzania activities held on Monday. “Once the environment is conducive we will surely resume the flights,” she said.
“We were disappointed by the airline’s decision to pull out of Tanzania’s commercial capital in the wake of recent discoveries of oil and gas deposits along the southern coast line of Tanzania which could bring a whole new range of investment opportunities for companies from overseas, potentially flying with BA,” she narrated.
“We should however understand that the company was operating under difficult conditions which ultimately affected its performance.” “Be rest assured that BA has not gone for good. There’s a chance that it will resume services as soon as the environment in Dar es Salaam is condusive,” she said. The suspension of its services in March this year was a huge blow to Tanzania’s efforts to promote the country abroad as a preferred tourism and trade destination.
The BA flights which were operating three times a week from London’s Heathrow Airport terminated its operations on grounds that the flights which were operating three times a week were not making a profitable contribution to the business. “Dar es Salaam was not performing well from a commercial perspective so we have decided to suspend the route,” a statement issued by the airline read so.
Tanzania will subsequently lose considerable amounts of revenue following the closing of BA services in Dar es Salaam since it would affect the flow of tourists from UK which is one of the biggest tourist markets for the country. Source: The Guardian
