Air Tanzania grounds entire Airbus A220 fleet due to engine problems
Air Tanzanian aircraft. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
National carrier Air Tanzania is weighing its options in bridging the emerging service gap caused by the grounding of its Airbus A220 fleet due to engine problems.
According to fleet data, one of ATCL’s A220 last flew on January 3, this year and has been parked at Maastricht Aachen Airport in The Netherlands. A second aircraft that has been on the tarmac in Dar es Salaam last flew on August 27. A third A220 has not flown since November 5.
The development, which is not unique to Air Tanzania, adds to the uncertainty faced by operators over timeframes for return to service of its fleet, as groundings add to a backlog of engines that require replacement or repair by the manufacturer.
Air Tanzania was the African launch customer for the A220 then Air Senegal, Egypt Air before Nigeria’s Ibom Air came on board.
On November 10, Air Tanzania Company Ltd (ATCL) announced flight schedule disruptions, citing the unavailability of some of its A220s, owing to manufacturer’s directives that have shortened the service intervals on the Pratt & Whitney PW1524G-3 engine.
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