Arusha: Airport

The day before we had arranged a special permit to use the Arusha airfield for a test flight (if necessary before sunrise, when nobody was in the tower!) but unfortunately it was raining like hell this morning, so we took our time to arrange final details in Arusha and got there in our Mercedes ten-tonner early in the afternoon to unload our equipment. Getting the fully loaded 350kg gondola down was quite dramatic; the 200kg envelope slid off easily. We had plenty of time to explain all bits and pieces to our four Tanzanian crew. All of them were technicians, so everything went smoothly.

An hour later we had run up the engine, tested the burners, and were ready to cold-inflate. On arrival there had been a few friendly cumulus clouds in the area, and the wind was a steady five knot northeasterly. As they got closer to the airfield, they became larger and larger; the wind died off completely, and suddenly they turned from white to grey and the one above us turned black, the wind picking up to 15 knots from the Southwest. We decided to stop inflating the airship but once we had packed up everything, the wind dropped out. No cloud, no rain and no daylight...

The Government is planning to widen the scope of services offered at the Arusha Airport in view of its expanding traffic.

The Arusha Regional Commissioner (RC), Daniel Ole Njoolay made the remark during the inauguration of the Aeronautical Information Service Office under the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) at the Arusha Airport last week.

The Regional Commissioner said, the government recognized the importance and economic contribution of the airport thus, plans were underway to expand the airport's ground area and widen the scope of services at the airport located 8 kilometres west of Arusha.

He however cautioned that the implementation of the plan needed a lot of funds and therefore urged the airport authorities and its stakeholders in the country to devise a mechanism through which the private sector could be involved in making the whole plan a success.

Mr. Ole Njoolay also pointed out that, by involving the private sector, Arusha Airport would be expanded and become more business oriented thereby boost the country's economy.

Inviting the Regional Commissioner to officially inaugurate the centre, the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority Director General, Ms Margareth Munyagi said, the authority had established the centre for the sole purpose of supplying relevant information on the airways condition to pilots and other interested parties.

She said that, the establishment of the information centre was aimed at rendering better services to the growing number of people using the airport. last year, more than 77,000 travellers used the airport in business or pleasure engagements and more than 15,000 flights were made. This is an increase of about 9,000 travellers and 400 flights compared to 2000. This made Arusha Airport the second busiest after Mwanza Airport. This is apart from Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro International Airports.

Not only is the airport being utilized by tourists destined to the national parks in the northern zone but is also used by people attending international conferences hosted in the country and also by those with other businesses to undertake.

According to the authority's civil aviation manager at the airport, Mr. John Keto Chambo, before the opening of the centre, pilots and other people had no other source of information apart from relying on the Airport's Control Tower.

The airport's Director General, Mr. Prosper Tesha and other stakeholders also attended the occasion.

The implementation of the proposed master plan for Arusha Airport will begin in the next financial year, it was announced here on Tuesday.

Briefing the Arumeru District Commissioner (DC), Elia Wawa Lali at a ceremony to mark the 3rd anniversary of the Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), the Arusha Airport Manager, Thomas Haule said earmarked works would include a complete reconstruction of the airport to match with more modern times.

The airport manager, however, did not reveal the actual costs involved. He instead said that the master plan's implementation would involve a substantial amount of money and that initiatives were underway to look for financiers.

In the meantime, the authority is embarking on short term plans to have the status of the airport improved. He said so far bids have been invited for the rehabilitation of the runway and fencing the whole area.

The airport manager said, during the three years operations under the TAA the airport had undergone tremendous changes. They include the installation of apron security floodlights and the extension of the apron to accommodate 30 planes from only eight.

He added that water supply system had also been improved by rehabilitating the existing borehole and a water pump. The exercise has helped to increase the flow of water to the neighbouring Arusha region central prison and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda's detention facility.

The security check system has also been improved according to Haule following the installation of the walk through metal detector, which was launched by the DC during the ceremony. The gadget has cost over 20 million shillings.

Speaking at the occasion the DC challenged the TAA to improve the airport to reach international standards, he said: "The Arusha regional leadership would love to make a better use of Arusha airport unlike the present situation where it costs a lot in terms of time, financial and security simply because we can not meet and see them off at the Arusha airport.

He also advised the TAA to work closely with the communities around the airport so as to cooperate in providing security to the airport.

Arusha airport, which is currently undergoing major renovations, targets to start handling over 15000 aircraft movements per annum beginning 2006.

The number of passengers using the air terminal is also expected to jump from the 2004 record of 87,252 per year to over 150,000 starting next year.

According to the Arusha Airport manager, Engineer Thomas J. Haule, passenger services charges accounted for 80 percent of the total revenue being earned at the domestic terminal, but the earnings dropped with the falling number of passengers, which had gone down from over 99,000 in 2003 to below 88,000 passengers last year.

Haule explained that the drop was due to decrease in aircraft movements, which had also fallen by 11 percent in a period of five years from over 15,000 in 2000 down to 13,500 over the last year.

The Kisongo-based, Arusha airport used to record an average of 42 aircraft movements a day, as of the year 2000, but in 2004 this fell to an average of only 37 aircraft movements per day.

Haule explained this drop to be a result of deterioration of runway, taxiway and apron pavements that have disabled heavy traffic. Also due to the relocation of the Precision-Air operation hub to Kilimanjaro International Airport and Mwanza, due to the fact that they operate heavy equipment which could not safely continue being handled on the Arusha airport runway.

The manager however pointed out that despite the drop of aircrafts movements at the terminal, the Arusha Airport still ranked second, from Dar-es-salaam airport (now named Mwalimu Nyerere International Airport) in handling the highest number of aircraft in the country and was in third position from Dar and Mwanza airports in terms of passenger traffic.

In the Arusha Airport Master plan, the runway which currently measures 1620 by 15 meters will be extended to the length of 2000 meters and the width of 30 meters, while the pavement strength is to be reinforced so as to handle aircrafts of up to 30 tonnes, like Fokker F28, Dash 8 and ATR 72. Previously, the airport could only handle aircrafts of 7 tonnes maximum.

According to Haule, in order to facilitate rapid movements, a parallel taxiway to runway will also be constructed to enable movement of up to three aircrafts simultaneously.

Also to be increased is the size of the airport's parking apron, to be doubled from the current 9,800 square meters to 22,000 square meters as it is now congested with around 20 aircraft based there.

The Tanzania Airports Authority is financing the rehabilitation of the entire existing runway with a length of 1620 meters and width of 30 meters a project which will cost Tsh. 3 billion and so far Tsh.1 billion has been spent in the ongoing project.

A new terminal building with 1500 square meters is planned and it will house departures, arrivals and business lounges, including an addition 2000 square meters for offices and commercial area.

The airport has acquired more land for this development project, measuring up to 200 acres. A new access road is soon to replace the current one, which is in pathetic shape. This other road will be built along the new perimeter fence being set up to enclose the airport from outside interference.