Dar es Salaam — Civil aviation operations in the country will, in the next 25 years, be one of the best in the world and would prompt other countries to learn from Tanzania.
This is after the implementation of the 25-year Civil Aviation Master Plan to be unveiled by the ministry of transport shortly.
After the implementation, it was revealed, the air transport would be fully liberalized and the government would raise the necessary funds using its own resources and private investors to address the infrastructural limitations which are currently facing the sector. Minister for transport Omar Nundu said yesterday that the plan, which would be implemented in phases, would begin with all the directives as shown in the 2010 CCM election manifesto concerning the sector, which among others includes a review of the civil aviation policy to face the current challenges.
In the next one year, the minister said, the government would build a new waiting lounge at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA), construct two international airports in Bagamoyo and Dodoma, while finalizing the already-in-construction airfield at Songwe in Mbeya.
He said the government would also improve others in Arusha, Mafia, Bukoba, Shinyanga, Tabora, Kigoma and Mpanda.
“The open-minded air transport industry will ensure full market access without restrictions on designations, route rights, capacity, frequencies, code-sharing and tarrifs,” he explained.
Engineer Nundu who was speaking in Dar es Salaam during celebrations to mark the International Civil Aviation Day (ICAD), said it was about time the civil aviation sector was used to ease the transport hurdles that have throttled the industry for a long time. “There is no way we can sit back and see people spend days on a journey that could be completed in a few hours. I ask all the stakeholders to come up with solutions to these problems,” he said.
He noted that everyone was responsible for ensuring that the aviation services provided were up to international standards in terms of safety, security, affordability and sustainability.
He said the government was taking a leading role in addressing issues related to safety, security and environment by ensuring that there are clear rules in the running of the industry.
Earlier, acting director general of the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) Fadhil Manongi highlighted the challenges that were facing the industry in the country as poor infrastructure and lack of aviation experts.
“At the moment, of the 364 pilots, only 155 are Tanzanians; out of the 221 available air operators, only 108 are indigenous. This makes it difficult especially when these expatriates decide to leave,” he said.
He asked the government to fully implement the Aviation Training Fund that was started in July 2009 but has, for unknown reasons, never been operational.
He also requested all the stakeholders in the aviation industry to support the Tanzania Aviation University which, according to him, would help to alleviate the problem of lack of local experts in the sector.