Air Tanzania (TC, Dar es Salaam) has reportedly caught the eyes of both Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport) and Emirates (EK, Dubai International) a Tanzanian Parliamentary Committee on Transport has heard. During the hearing, the chairman of the inquest, Peter Serukamba, told the country's National Assembly that despite strong interest from foreign investors, the carrier's hefty TZS133billion (USD80million) debt had scared most, if not all of them away.
"ATCL has a debt amounting to 133bn. Various international companies have shown interest in investing in the company but they have been scared by the huge debt," Tanzania's Daily News quoted Mr Serukamba as saying.
The committee urged government to address the carrier's debt overhang as the investors had expressed reservations as to who would inherit it should they acquire a stake in the carrier.
Among other investors that have expressed an interest in the airline are Singaporean firm I-VIC International, Al Hayat of Oman, and the Aga Khan Development Foundation whose other interests include Air Uganda (Entebbe), Air Burkina (2J, Ouagadougou) and Air Mali (Bamako).
Over the last decade or so, Air Tanzania has been partnered by a number of investors, among them South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) and the Hong Kong-based consortium, 88 Queensway Group, though both times the deals have gone sour.
In August last year, the airline was also linked to a potential deal with China's JoyAir (JR, Xi'an Xianyang) in which the Chinese were to have re-equipped Air Tanzania with MA-60s and Y12s.
A pale shadow of its former self, the struggling national carrier operates a leased B737-200Adv. and CRJ200ER as well as a single Dash 8-300 on flights throughout the country as well as to neighbouring Burundi and the Comoros.
