■ TANZANIA: Precision Air sees a 6% increase in pax uplifted over NOV12 - JAN13 period.

Tanzania's Precision Air (PW) says it has registered a 6% growth in passenger traffic for the period NOV12 - JAN13 with an overall growth of 13% for the period APR12 to JAN13.

Precision Air 737 in Dar es Salaam

Speaking at a press conference in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzanina yesterday, interim CEO Allen Shara said despite the arrival of fastjet (FN) on the scene last year, the carrier has continued to see a climb in passenger growth owing to an expansion and increase in frequencies on various routes (Mbeya and Mtwara in particular) coupled with better scheduling of flights to better suit customer needs.

The airline recorded a 13% growth in passengers uplifted between April 2012 and January 2013, with 750'762 flown during the period, a 13% increase on the same period over 2011/2012 which registered 663'636 passengers. From November 2012 to January 2013, Precision Air uplifted 222'654 passengers, a 6% increase on the previous year's figures of 209'696.

"The Tanzania air travel market has become more competitive with the introduction of new airlines. However Precision Air's performance in terms of passenger uplift has continued to grow impressively despite this increased competition. We have managed to achieve this due to the unmatched services we offer our customers, convenience in destination frequencies of our schedules and our true Tanzanian hospitality enjoyed by passengers travelling by Precision," said Sharra.

Source [The Daily News]

fastjet, for all its bickering with Don Smith of 540Aviation over who owns what in Fly540, saw a slump in its January figures, with load factors down to 66% from 78.9% registered on its debut in November/December though the slump can likely be attributed to the wearing off of the "novelty" of flying a new carrier.