Air Tanzania has embarked on a substantial recruitment campaign, seeking nearly 70 pilots and 100 cabin crew members as well as other personnel.

The airline is offering 23 captain positions, across various aircraft types including the Boeing 787, 767 and 737, the Airbus A220, and De Havilland Dash 8 turboprops.

It is also recruiting for 45 first officers, without specifying aircraft type ratings – only mentioning experience on “minimum” equipment of 10t.

Air Tanzania is advertising for 100 cabin crew, of which 20 positions are require Chinese-speaking or French-speaking personnel.

The airline’s demand for flight crew features in a campaign covering a total of 173 positions at the airline, with the remainder covering accountancy posts.

Air Tanzania has been expanding its route network – the latest addition, Lagos, opened in mid-September – as it aims to reverse its flagging performance.

Auditors detailed heavy losses at the airline in April, despite government subsidies, and recommended changes in such areas as its fleet strategy.

The government approved a new board of directors in May, with the airline led by chief executive Peter Ulanga. Air Tanzania described the measure as “marking a fresh leadership dynamic”, which would position the carrier for “growth in both domestic and international markets”.

The carrier had already been blacklisted by the European Commission last year, and the Tanzanian situation worsened in June this year when the ban was extended to all carriers from the country.

Tanzania’s civil aviation authority responded to the blacklisting by taking steps to ensure connectivity and avert widespread cancellations of flight bookings by the business community and tourists.

It extended traffic rights to other international carriers – including Qatar Airways and Ethiopian Airlines – to provide support on routes to major destinations. The measures also permitted local Tanzanian operators to enter codeshare or block permit arrangements. 

Tanzania’s transport ministry and the civil aviation authority have also remained in discussion with the European Commission to address the safety oversight issues, with a view to having the restrictions lifted.  By David Kaminski, FlightGlobal