In the recent days, Precision Air Tanzania was highly featured on news headlines after a passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria killing 19 people.
The plane carrying 43 passengers crashed into the lake on Sunday, November 6 as it was approaching the lakeside city of Bukoba.
The cause was not immediately clear, but the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) said the incident took place amid storms and heavy rains.
As investigations into the same continues, WoK looks at the history and the ownership of the airline.
Establishment
Precision Air was established in 1993 as a private charter air Transport Company operating a five-seater piper Aztec aircraft.
The company operated from Arusha but it is currently headquartered in Dar es Salaam.
Their main line of business was providing connections to tourists visiting Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar Island among many other destinations.
After a while in business and with the growing demand of air transport in Tanzania, Precision Air went into operating scheduled flights from Arusha.
At the time, their fleet of planes were a seven-seater one engine Cessna 207, one seven-seater Cessna 402, two eleven-seater Cessna 404s and the nineteen-seater LET 410.
In the 1990s, the airline introduced the bigger and more comfortable ATR fleet.
Precision Air services
The company offers a number of services which include scheduled flights, chartered and cargo air services.
The airline currently operates 12 flights a day to Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Zanzibar while flying to Nairobi 6 times a day from both Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro.
They also fly to Bukoba, Kahama, Mtwara, Mwanza, Tabora, Seronera and Entebbe.
Precision Air’s Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Hillary Mremi said the airline understands the importance of having reliable air transport for the growth of tourism in Tanzania.
“As Tanzanian airline we have an obligation to support economic growth of this country. Tourism contributes about 17.5% of Tanznaia’s GDP, and there is still big potential for this figure to grow, and we can achieve that by making our country and tourist attractions accessible. As Precision Air we will continue to support the efforts by providing reliable air transport,” he said.
Ownership
The airline was fully owned by a local Tanzanian businessman until 2003 when Kenya Airways acquired 49% shareholding.
In the move that Precision Air describes as the most significant, a majority 51% shareholding was left in the control of the businessman.
In December 2011, the airline was listed on the on Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange with a total of 7,056 investors who took part in the Initial Public Offering in November 2011.
Precision Air raised TSh 12 billion most of which were taken up by Tanzanian nationals both in retail investors and corporate entities as intended by the company.
The company is currently owned by Tanzanians (58%), Kenya Airways (41%) and other nationals (1%).
