An airplane covered in blue and white, much like what you get when you view the flat snow-covered top of Mt Kilimanjaro against a cloudless sky background. They call it “The Wings of Kilimanjaro”. That’s Air Tanzania, popularly referred to locally as Kampuni ya Ndege ya Tanzania!
To understand how Air Tanzania actually exists, we have to give credit to one Dr. John Pombe Magufuli – president of Tanzania from 2015 to 2021. Only a year into his presidency, he pledged to make the overhaul of the then troubled Air Tanzania Company Limited one of his flagship infrastructure development projects in a bid to transform the country into a regional transportation hub.
Long before this rebirth, Air Tanzania existed as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC), which had been launched on the 11th of March 1977 after the dissolution of East African Airways. At the beginning of its operations, the airline used a DC-9-32, two Boeing 737s, four Fokker F27s and four DHC-6-300 Twin Otter aircraft. By 1991, it had even began operating a Boeing 767-200ER, though this proved to be a step too far for its limited customer numbers. The Boeing 767 widebody was returned to its lessor Ethiopian Airlines in February 1992.
In 1994, Air Tanzania Corporation merged with Uganda Airlines and South African Airways to form Alliance Air, where it owned a 10% stake in the joint venture. However, in June 1998, ATC opted out of the venture, accusing South African Airways and its parent company Transnet of using Alliance Air as a Trojan Horse to take over national airlines in the region. Perhaps it feared a rerun of the events of late 1976/ early 1977 when East African Airways essentially became Kenya Airways leaving Tanzania and Uganda to clutch onto whatever pieces of straw they could grab. Surprisingly, Alliance Air welcomed their exit with open arms, and even referred to ATC as a ‘constant hindrance’. But their joy would not also last long. Alliance Air would also cease operations in 2000 after loss accumulation of about US$50 million.
Ironically, the Tanzanian Government would proceed to sell 49% stake in Air Tanzania Company Limited to South African Airways later in December 2002 for US$ 20 million. Then again, the Tanzanian Government would by the 49% stake from South African Airways in September 2006 for only US$ 1 million. No wonder South African Airways claimed earlier that year that the Tanzanian Government was “not serious!”
Air Tanzania would make several attempts to relaunch between 2007 and 2015, but it was plagued by constant operational shutdowns, primarily due to lack of aircraft and sustained debt.
But in 2016, the new Air Tanzania bounced back, commencing operations with orders of the Airbus A220-300 (then called the CS300) and the Dash 8 Q400.
As of August 2026, the airline operates 4 Airbus A220-300, 2 Boeing 737 Max 9, 3 Boeing 787-8, 5 Dash 8 Q400, and 1 Boeing 767-300F freighter.
So when you see the Air Tanzania fleet with the slogan “Hapa Kazi Tu”, it pays homage to the man who actually fulfilled a promise he had pledged to his electorate during his campaigns – something politicians rarely do!
