QUESTION: First, what principally motivated and prompted you to start the second service to Dar es Salaam?
ANSWER: Our services have gone from strength to strength over the years and for the last 17 years we have operated in this market, we have seen demand for our services growing. This has necessitated the introduction of additional five weekly flights out of Dar es Salaam, which means we now offer our customers more choice and convenience from Tanzania to Dubai and Europe, the Middle East, the United States, the Indian sub-continent, Australasia and the Far East.
Through the second service to Dar es Salaam, Emirates will be able to connect even more people and cargo with Tanzania. Could you briefly outline the size of cargo and number of passengers carried by Emirates on the Tanzanian route?
In our last financial year we carried over 180,000 customers on the route and an average of 6,600 tonnes of cargo. It’s important to note that Emirates is the only facility that carries fresh chilled meat out of Tanzania to Gulf Cooperation Council countries and approximately we carry 100 tonnes per month on the Dar es Salaam–Dubai route.
How do the figures above compare with last year’s and when the carrier started flying to the country?
Emirates started a twice weekly service between Dubai and Dar es Salaam linked with Nairobi on October 28, 1997 using Airbus A310-300. Following steady growth and demand on the route over the years, the frequency and capacity was increased and the flight was delinked from Nairobi, becoming a daily non-stop service between Dubai and Dar es Salaam in 2006.
Emirates as a group has developed a solid business foundation and we expect to continue to grow our revenue going forward. Our focus remains on expanding our services and growing our business in various parts of the world, including Africa.
What does the new development mean and tell about the airline and Tanzania in terms of the benefits to be accrued from the new service?
This means Dar es Salaam now becomes the second destination in East Africa, after Nairobi, to have more than a daily frequency for Emirates. The new frequency is expected to boost trade and tourism between Tanzania and various markets around the Emirates global passenger and cargo network. In terms of cargo, the new service will be adding up to 170 tonnes of cargo capacity a week on the route.
Tourism will be one of the benefits. Can you expound on this?
The new five times weekly service, which will operate on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, will complement Emirates’ existing daily operations and further boost inbound and outbound passenger traffic and cargo flows between Tanzania and Dubai and the Emirates’ worldwide network. It will add 2,370 more seats to and out of Dar es Salaam and this means more tourists will be able to connect to Tanzania from any of the more than 140 destinations served by Emirates.
Could you highlight the current trade relations between Tanzania and Dubai in terms of the volume and products exported and imported by the two countries as well as the role Emirates has played in boosting this?
According to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, non-oil trade between the United Arab Emirates and Tanzania accounted for $1.85 billion in 2013. Exports and re-exports reached $735 million, while imports accounted for $1.11 billion. This has been achieved in part because of the excellent air service between the two countries for which Emirates has played a vital role.
About 75 per cent of cargos exported from Tanzania are perishables, consisting of fresh, frozen and chilled fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood. The rest of the exports are mainly household goods, jewellery, dry foods and automotive spare parts, while major imports are pharmaceuticals, automotive spare parts, electrical and electronic products and construction equipment and machinery.
Why do most Tanzanians and people visiting Tanzania choose to fly with Emirates?
Emirates has been recognised internationally through hundreds of awards for the quality of its services both on the ground and in the air. Customers have come to expect superb in-flight services from our gourmet cuisine, an award winning in-flight entertainment system, ice, to warm hospitality from our multi-national cabin crew. In addition, Emirates customers experience arrays of family friendly products and services, airport services inkling chauffer drives and generous baggage allowances. Economy Class customers get 30kg, Business Class get 40kg and First Class customers 50kg.
How do you rate and compare our airports in terms of safety, infrastructure, basic amenities, customer care and competitiveness with those in other markets where Emirates flies in the EAC region and Africa?
While there is always room for improvement, progress is being made in the development of airport infrastructure in the region, for instance, Kenya and Uganda are expanding their airport facilities; Rwanda is in the process of building a bigger airport, upgrading of several airports are taking place in Tanzania and Bole International Airport in Ethiopia has also been recently upgraded.
What advice would you give to the government in general and ATC in particular on how to establish and run a successful national airline?
A: We can only comment about what we do at Emirates. For us, it’s about offering customers products and services, which are value-for-money with excellent services. As an airline, we have also made innovation, service excellence and passenger comfort and convenience a cornerstone of what we do.
Supported by our world class hub at Dubai International Airport (one of the busiest airports in the world), on-ground chauffeur service and Emirates signature lounges around the world, to our unique business rewards and skywards programmes, generous baggage allowances, all-inclusive pricing, and unparalleled flight experiences – anyone who has ever flown with us knows what sets Emirates apart.
Do you think local carriers like ATC and KQ can really compete in the regional and global arena with the likes of Emirates and Qatar Airline?
As Emirates, we don’t comment on our competitors as our focus is on delivering the best possible services to our customers wherever we operate.
How is Emirates putting on a brave face on the fierce global competition in the aviation industry?
For more than 25 years now, we have stayed focused, invested in our brand, closely watched our costs and with the extremely hard work of more than 50,000 staff, we have remained committed to our carefully planned long-term expansion.
But what has driven our success is our superior products and in-flight services, including our award winning in-flight entertainment programme, ice.
Emirates has invested in the comfort and convenience of its customers, including award-winning gourmet food in all classes, highly trained international cabin crew, superior premium class services and industry leading facilities in Dubai.
Premium passengers benefit from a personal chauffeur-drive service to and from the airport and priority check-in and baggage handling. When passengers arrive in Dubai, they experience our world leading passenger facility, Terminal 3. Exclusively for the use of Emirates’ passengers, T3 is light, airy and has taken air travel to a new level of comfort and convenience.
Last, but not least, what should Tanzanians and the whole travelling world expect from your organisation next year?
As I indicated earlier, Emirates has made innovation, service excellence and passenger comfort and convenience, as well as offering value for money, the focus of our approach and we will continue to do this going forward, as well as ensuring that we provide our customers with the best possible services on the ground and in the sky.
The Citizen
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