Precision Air Services Plc (operating as Precision Air; DSE:PAL) is a Tanzanian airline based at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. The airline operates scheduled passenger services to Nairobi and Comoros; and to various airports and airstrips in Tanzania. Kenya Airways owns 41.23% of the airline, and is a component company of the Tanzania All Share Index.

It is currently banned from flying into the EU along with all Tanzanian airlines.

History Precision Air was incorporated in Tanzania in January 1991 as a private airline and started operations in 1993. At first, it operated as a private charter air transport company but in November 1993 changed to offer scheduled services to serve the growing tourist market. It introduced a 737-300 courtesy of Kenya Airways in 1999.

In 2006, Precision Air became the first Tanzanian airline to pass the IATA Operational Safety Audit.

In April 2011, the airline became a public company.

Corporate affairs Ownership Precision Air was privately owned until 2003, when Kenya Airways acquired a 49 percent stake, paying US$2 million, weeks after its rival South African Airways acquired a 49 percent stake in Air Tanzania for US$20 million. The remaining 51 percent was retained by Michael Shirima, the founder of the airline.

In October 2011, Precision Air floated shares in its stock in an initial public offering on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, after which Shirima's and Kenya Airways's stakes declined and the new share subscribers owned 15.86 percent. As of 31 March 2016, the major shareholders were:

Name No. of shares Interest Michael Shirima 68,857,650 42.91% Kenya Airways 66,157,350 41.23% Precision Air Employee Share Option Scheme 1,765,300 1.10% Other shareholders 23,689,500 14.76% Total 160,469,800 100.00%

Business trends It was a private company until 2011, so published figures were not generally available before the initial public offering prospectus of 12 September 2011. Since then, full Annual Reports and Financial Statements have been published each year.

Trends over recent years for the Precision Air group (Precision Air Services Plc and its subsidiaries Precision Handling Limited and Precise Systems Limited) (as at year ending 31 March; 31 December from 2018 onwards) are:

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 3.2018 12.2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Turnover (TSh million) 181,358 141,262 105,400 90,751 79,756 97,108 97,925 124,486 56,877 71,153 117,667 139,817 162,193 Profits (PBT) (TSh million) 5,915 Number of employees 717 608 536 509 436 356 396 398 383 376 393 401 413 Number of passengers ('000) 896 688 452 375 409 474 366 484 246 285 480 482 472 Passenger load factor (%) 62 65 59 52 52 55 54 52 49 52 64 65 66 Number of aircraft (at year end) 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 8 8 Notes/sources

Published reports in June 2013 indicated that Precision Air had encountered substantial financial difficulties, stemming in part from losses incurred while operating flights to and from Johannesburg, South Africa. Those flights ended in September 2012. The Citizen, a Tanzanian newspaper, reported in August 2013 that the airline "desperately" needed a US$32 million bailout package from the Tanzanian government or other non-shareholder sources. The airline's problems increased in 2011 when it received only US$7.4 million of the US$17.5 million in cash that the airline hoped to receive when first listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Increasing fuel prices, taxes, and levies plus currency fluctuations and the refusal of minority owner Kenya Airways to contribute capital had also hurt the airline.

Destinations

As of , the airline serves the following destinations:

CountryCityAirportNotesRefsComoros Anjouan Ouani Airport Suspended Moroni Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport Suspended Democratic Republic of Congo Lubumbashi Lubumbashi International Airport Kenya MombasaMoi International AirportNairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport South Africa Johannesburg O. R. Tambo International Airport Tanzania Arusha Arusha Airport Bukoba Bukoba Airport Dar es Salaam Julius Nyerere International Airport Dodoma Dodoma Airport Kahama Kahama Airstrip Moshi / Arusha Kilimanjaro International Airport Mbeya Songwe Airport Mtwara Mtwara Airport Mwanza Mwanza Airport Serengeti–Seronera Seronera Airstrip Zanzibar Abeid Amani Karume International Airport Uganda Entebbe Entebbe International Airport Zambia Lusaka Kenneth Kaunda International Airport

Partnerships Codeshare agreements

Precision Air has codeshare agreements with the following four airlines:

Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi-Dar es Salaam) Kenya Airways (various routes) LAM Mozambique Airlines (Maputo–Nampula–Pemba–Dar es Salaam) RwandAir (Kigali–Kilimanjaro)

Interline agreements

In 2011, Precision Air entered into an interline agreement with Qatar Airways, allowing the latter's passengers to connect to other east African destinations such as Arusha and Zanzibar via Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Fleet

Current fleet

, Precision Air operates the following aircraft:

+ Precision Air fleet Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers NotesCY TotalATR 42–5001—04848ATR 42–6002—04848ATR 72–5005—07070Total 80

Historical fleet The airline has previously operated the following aircraft:

ATR 42-320 Boeing 737–300

Accidents and incidents

According to the Aviation Safety Network Precision Air has had seven accidents or incidents. One of those caused 19 fatalities.

26 July 1999: A Let L-410UVP-E9, tail number 5H-PAB, made a belly landing at Arusha Airport on a training flight while doing a touch and go landing. The two crew and three passengers were not injured. 16 November 2004: A Let L-410UVP-E20, tail number 5H-PAC, crash landed while on a training flight at Kilimanjaro Airport. The two pilots, who had not put on their shoulder straps, sustained facial injuries. 8 July 2007: An ATR 72–212, tail number 5H-PAR, had a runway excursion on landing at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport runway 06. It veered to the right, went over a ditch, and came to a stop on Taxiway F. The nose wheel collapsed. The four crew and 62 passengers were not injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The probable cause of this accident was power asymmetry during application of reverse thrust on landing. The control levers were jammed in one position. On 13 December 2013, an ATR 42–600 (5H–PWI) made a safe landing at Arusha Airport after its four tires deflated upon landing. All 37 passengers and 4 crew were safe. The airline subsequently explained that higher braking forces, necessitated by the aircraft landing with a tailwind, caused the deflations. 10 July 2014: An ATR 72–500, tail number 5H-PWA, was halfway to Dar es Salaam from Mwanza during normal cruise when the number 2 engine seized. This necessitated a diversion to Kilimanjaro International Airport. The aircraft touched down normally; however, after selecting ground idle (as per the captain's explanation), the aircraft veered to the left and exited the runway hitting one of the runway edge lights and proceeded to roll on the grass field parallel to runway 09 for approximately 180 meters before subsequently regaining the runway. No injuries were reported. 9 December 2018 Flight PW 722 with 68 passengers from Nairobi to Mwanza via Kilimanjaro had multiple birdstrikes on approach, including on the wheels that caused difficulties on landing. 6 November 2022: Precision Air Flight 494, an ATR 42-500 (5H-PWF) with 39 passengers and 4 crew crashed in Lake Victoria while landing at Bukoba Airport, Tanzania. There were 19 deaths. It was the first fatal accident in the airline's history. A Ministry of Transport report determined that the pilot attempted to land Bukoba in poor weather, against the advice of the first officer, instead of diverting to Mwanza.

References

External links