Swissport Tanzania Limited has expressed concern over traffic jams and called on the government to develop alternative routes that would enable passengers and other people operating at the Julius Nyerere International Airport reach the destination on time.
The Swissport Ground Handling Manager, Ms Stella Kitali, said in Dar es Salaam that traffic jams are one among major challenges affecting economic development in the aviation industry.
“There is need for the government to consider setting up priority route to the airport to facilitate services at the area,” she said adding that most of the people especially airport operators fail to report on time due to traffic jams, a move that affects services.
She also mentioned lack of enough and better infrastructure as another setback in the development of the industry calling for more investments in the facilities to help the industry compete in the market.
Ms Kitali was speaking on the company’s mass investment made in the 2013 towards providing reliable, safety and excellence services to their customers towards maintaining market position.
“We have invested 2.6bn/- on the Ground Support Equipment (GSE) which have been acquired this year. The aim is to satisfy our customers’ needs,” she said.
Among the equipment include, Disabled Pax Boarding Vehicles that would help physically challenged passengers board and disembark from the aircrafts. Another equipment is a diesel driven ground power unit that presents a new quality of ground power generation for aircraft during the flight preparations phase.
According to the Company’s Head of Ramp Services Mr Mahmoud Kisukari, the equipment has an increased degree of efficiency with reduction of the total cost of operation and increased environmental and user friendliness. The equipment according to the Ms Kitali, are used to handle all types of aircrafts.
Ms Kitali said the investment is part of the company’s strategies set to create reliable and safety services to their customers. Meanwhile, the company has plans to launch a service station at Songwe Airport in Mbeya Region.
According to the Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Gaudence Temu, the launching ceremony will be carried at the end of this month.
Transport Minister Mr Harrison Mwakyembe is expected to officiate at the function. Mr Temu said the aim is to enable their customers increase air transport services to people of the region especially business people and tourism development.
Being an aviation services company, Swissport currently operates at Julius Nyerere International Airport and Kilimanjaro International Airport. Services offered include passenger and ramp services, cargo handling and executive aviation.
By ANNE ROBI, Tanzania Daily News
