Company Profile Precision Air was established in 1993. It started as a private charter air transport company operating a five-seater piper Aztec aircraft. Its initial line of business mainly entailed providing connections to tourists visiting the rich natural attractions of Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, in northern Tanzania, the Zanzibar Island in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the country from Arusha town as its base. The vast nature of Tanzania coupled with a growing demand for air transport services as the country started to embrace a free market economy soon drove Precision Air into operating scheduled flights maintaining Arusha as its base. The first flights were scheduled using a seven-seater one engine Cessna 207, one seven-seater Cessna 402, two eleven-seater Cessna 404s and the nineteen-seater LET 410 until mid 1990s when the airline introduced the bigger and more comfortable ATR fleet. Services Precision Air is currently headquartered in Dar es Salaam- the commercial city of the United Republic of Tanzania.   The airline’s main services include; scheduled flights, chartered and cargo air services which are growing at an impressive rate. In May 2009, Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) granted the company a self-handling license and ground handling operations started at the beginning of November. The airline is seeking a third party ground handling license from TCAA. Partners The most significant turnaround of the airline came in 2003 when Kenya Airways acquired a minority 49% shareholding leaving majority 51% shares in the control of one local Tanzanian businessman. Since then, Precision Air has literally turned its image into a professionally run modern regional airline. However, the airline works closely with a number of companies and has code-share agreements with over ten reputable airlines worldwide. Fleet In 2006, the airline embarked on a fleet modernization program that saw it sign a contract with ATR of France to deliver seven brand new state-of-the-art aircraft. The last of the seven aircraft arrived in September 2010. The current fleet consists of; five 70-seater ATR 72-500, four 47-seater ATR 42 and one Boeing 737. Plans are underway to expand the fleet further by acquiring a second Boeing 737-300, more E-jets and ATRs.  The fleet modernization and fleet expansion plans have gone hand in hand with an increase in passenger uplift. The past two years have witnessed a steady growth of total passenger uplift of about 16% rising from 465,349 passengers in 2007/08 financial year to 538,305 in 2008/09. The projection in the airline’s current financial year which starts in April is to uplift 800,367 equivalent to a 48% increase until end of the season in March 2011. Destinations Precision Air currently offers the widest connections to all major towns in Tanzania including Mwanza, Tabora, Musoma, Shinyanga, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Mtwara, Arusha and Dar es Slaam.Regionally, the carrier flies to Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya as well as to Entebbe in Uganda. Plans are underway to conquer more destinations in the SADEC region and further afield. In January 2007, the carrier successfully completed a one-year lived project of e-ticketing technology adoption, making it the fifth airline in Africa to become e-ticket compliant. E-ticketing is a mandatory technology for all IATA member airlines. The technology provides flexibility to passengers who enjoy the advantage of booking and checking in online. An electronic ticket is an ordinary computer print out that can be regenerated when lost as compared to the paper ticket, which if lost cannot be reprinted. Along with becoming e-ticket compliant, the year 2006 also witnessed Precision Air undergo IATA Operational and Safety Audit (IOSA) again scoring another first in Tanzania’s aviation industry. Investing in people and human development Capacity Building and knowledge transfer Precision Air Services has invested a lot in its Human Capital to enhance capacity building and ensure knowledge transfer in as far as human capital development is concerned. The airline has managed to train its own Pilots as well as Aircraft Engineers/Technicians. So far four Pilots have been trained from scratch to acquire rare and expensive skills. In addition, the company has trained a total of 12 technicians for the past 3 years in collaboration with ATR Toulouse France. Human development has not left out the Management skills required to run an airline business in a competitive environment. Five Management staff have so far been enrolled into the MBA program in Toulouse. Job Creation Precision Air has created jobs for over 600 employees who are currently working with the airline. Of the 600 employees, about 150 jobs were created in October 2009 after the company was granted a license to do Self Ground Handling Services. Once granted a license to handle third party airlines and with the completion of the hangar project, even more jobs will be created. Environment preservation In its efforts to preserve the environment the company has engaged a consultant to develop and implement an environmental management system. This is in addition to recruiting an Environmental Management Officer. Earlier efforts to preserve the environment include purchasing aircraft with low carbon emissions. Good corporate citizenship and sustainable community development  The airline has identified three key community areas of support - education, assisting orphans and environmental conservation into which it pumps millions of shillings every year. It also provides assistance to unforeseen calamities and emergency situations. In March 2006 for instance, Precision Air was among companies that came forth with Tsh 15 Million cash donation towards the National Food Relief Fund, a special fund established by the Tanzanian government to mobilize resources towards offsetting the famine in Tanzania brought by prolonged drought which resulted to poor harvests. Other initiatives lately include; material assistance to the Kilosa flood victims and adoption of the Cornel Ngaleku Children’s Centre - an orphanage located in the Kilimanjaro region. Innovation The airline has recently launched a Frequent Flyer Program called Paa Royal aimed at rewarding its loyal customers for their patronage. This is another milestone for Precision Air as it became the first Tanzanian airline to introduce such a program.