DALLAS — A milestone in Africa has been achieved by Air Tanzania (TC), which has become the first operator of the Boeing 767-300 Freighter series in the continent after receiving its first and only unit today, June 3, 2023, at Dar-es-Salaam Airport (DAR).
Airframe 5H-TCO flew on delivery from Everett Airfield (PAE) to Casablanca (CMN), before arriving finally at its final destination, as the range was not sufficient to perform a non-stop flight between the United States and Tanzania.
Ladislaus Matindi, Managing Director of Air Tanzania, said, “The 767 will enable Air Tanzania to support a journey towards a more sustainable future and time-critical cargo schedules across Africa and beyond. The arrival of the airplane will open opportunities for global businesses to transport commercial cargo goods to various parts of the world, which will boost national economic growth.”
With this delivery, TC celebrated its position as the first airline operating a directly manufactured freighter Boeing 767 in the African continent. Other carriers in the region, such as Ethiopian Airlines (ET) or Royal Air Maroc (AT), also fly the type but as converted freighters at the end of their operational lifetime.
The Boeing 767—Still Being Produced
50 years after its program launch, the Boeing 767 family has been still one of the most successful widebody aircraft from the American factory, and interestingly is still being produced, just not as a passenger plane.
The Boeing 767 has found itself in a very good position today as it fulfills the characteristics of a profitable freighter aircraft, with well-optimized space, large Maximum Take Off Weight, and Range for this type of operation.
Because of this, while having already shut down the passenger production, directly built freighter Boeing 767s continuously roll out from Everett’s final assembly lines, mostly preparing their delivery UPS (5X) or FedEx (FX), which is its actual largest operator, with more than 120 units.
About Air Tanzania
Air Tanzania (TC) is a small airline that is focused on carrying hometown passengers from its main hub in Dar-es-Salaam (DAR) to the rest of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Differing significantly from neighboring countries, the fleet of TC is one of the newest and most efficient of the African continent, made up of new-gen aircraft such as the Airbus A220, Boeing 787, and De Havilland Canada Dash 8, which all have an average age of just 4 years.
With the operation of the Boeing 767 Freighter, Air Tanzania is expected to complement high air freight demand routes to some destinations of its current network, including far-away cities like Algiers (ALG), Mumbai (BOM), and Guangzhou (CAN).
Featured image: Departure of the Air Tanzania Boeing 767-300F from Everett Airfield. Photo: Boeing
Article source: https://airwaysmag.com/first-boeing-767-f-africa-air-tanzania/
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