Engineer Peter Rudolf Ulanga has been appointed to serve as the new Chief Executive Officer of the troubled Air Tanzania, following the retirement of Engineer Ladislaus Matindi, who previously headed the national carrier.
An official dispatch from the State House in Dodoma indicates that President Samia Suluhu Hassan named Engineer Rudolf Ulanga as the current CEO of r the Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), taking over from Engineer Matindi.
The former Director of Air Tanzania, Engineer Matindi served in the position for nearly nine years after being appointed by the former Head of State, the late President John Pombe Magufuli on the 15th of September 2016.
Operating from its hub at the Julius Kambarage Nyerere International Airport (JKNIA), Air Tanzania is the national airline of Tanzania which was established as Air Tanzania Corporation (ATC) in 1977.
Like a phoenix, the airline emerged from the ashes of the former East African Airways which was dissolved in 1977 following the disintegration of the maiden East African Community (EAC) which was then made up of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Air Tanzania has been a member of the African Airlines Association (AAA) since its commencement.
The airline was wholly owned by the state until 2002 when it was partially privatised in partnership with South African Airways, but the Tanzanian Government later repurchased its shares in 2006, during the early reigns of John Magufuli.
As of November 2024, the Air Tanzania fleet consisted of 15 aircrafts among them the Airbus A220-300; Boeing 737 MAX 9; Boeing 787-8; De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 and a Boeing 767-300F (Cargo).
Air Tanzania serves mostly domestic destinations but also extends routes to Zambia, India, Dubai and soon to be launched South African flights.
Despite not making any profit, the company is reported to be ordering new equipment.
The country’s Controller Auditor General has constantly been raising alarm regarding the company’s performance, precisely its loss-making endeavours.