Tanzanian Airline Operators are outraged as Zanzibar gives exclusive rights to one of its airport terminals to Dubai
The Tanzanian Airline Operators Association has admitted to being on the verge of a protest.
The Tanzanian Airline Operators Association (TAOA), has demanded that the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) take immediate action regarding the exclusive status granted to Dnata Zanzibar at the Abeid Aman Karume International Airport (AAKIA).
The association’s grievance is with the new directive which gives exclusive rights to the Dubai-based company Dnata by Zanzibar Airports Authority (ZAA) to manage the Terminal 3 building at the AAKIA.
The Tanzanian Airline Operators Association has called for the immediate intervention of the TCAA, in a notice which relayed their grievances.
The notice reads in part; “The event TCAA neglects to perform its duties as demanded herein within seven (7) days from the date of this letter, the Association will not have any other option but to seek legal redress in appropriate judicial authorities against TCAA’s abdication of its duties and allowing ZAA to act ultra vires.”
The exclusive right awarded to Dnata was issued on the 14th of September, and since then The Tanzanian Airline Operators Association has called for a revision of the directive. They had expressed their displeasure earlier, but it fell on deaf ears. The association has now threatened that a strike is imminent if their concerns are not addressed.
The directive from ZAA gave the current firms operating at Zanzibar’s Abeid Amani Karume International Airport up to December 1 to vacate the newly constructed Terminal III and instructed airlines to make arrangements to work with Dnata.
“As of December 1, 2022, unless informed otherwise by the authority, all services from terminal 3 shall be conducted under the auspices of Dnata for the provision of ground handling and the Marhaba lounge Services.” Read parts of the letter.
In November 2021, Dnata signed a contract with authorities in Zanzibar to provide ground handling services at the newly built Terminal 3 at the airport.
As part of the contract, two other Emirates subsidiaries, Emirates Leisure Retail and MMI will operate all 13 retailers and two lounges in the terminal. These include restaurants and duty-free and commercial outlets.
