ZAA to meet airlines over notice to move to Dnata

The Zanzibar Airports Authority will today meet representatives of all airlines that fly into Zanzibar regarding the order to shift their ground handling to Dnata. 

In an email that The Citizen has seen, the director general said he was to have a meeting with the station managers on Thursday, October at 10am in order to align on the September 14 notice.

The meeting comes at a time when ZAA is conducting what the authority has called an independent audit of ground handlers operating at the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport for the first time.

In the September notice by the acting ZAA director general, Seif Juma, to all Airlines and airport users, the authority said that the government of Zanzibar in its quest to improve service delivery at the airport, has entered a management agreement with three companies.

He named the companies as Dnata Zanzibar Aviation Services Limited, Emirate Leisure Retail, and SEGAP.
“From December 1, 2022, unless informed otherwise by the authority, all services from terminal 3 shall be conducted under the auspices of Dnata for provision of ground handling and the Marhaba lounge Services,” read the notice.
The letter further stated that the Emirates Leisure Retail shall provide food and beverage service, shops and duty free shops, whereas SEGAP will provide technical support to ZAA management and airport operations.
In the notice, ZAA advised airlines intending to use the newly built terminal 3 to enter negotiations with Dnata to avoid inconveniences.
Since then, only two airlines, Eurowing and Neos have effected the order that requires all international airlines to adopt Dnata Zanzibar as their sole ground handler in Terminal 3.

With the clock ticking away to the December 1 deadline, most airlines that have spoken to The Citizen on condition of anonymity say they are waiting for guidelines from the Tanzania Civil aviation Authority (TCAA).

On October 10, the Tanzania Airline Operators Association (Taoa) wrote to TCAA seeking the annulment of the said directive because it was against regulation 20 of the Civil Aviation (Ground Handling Services) Regulations of 2012, which requires the selection procedures of ground handlers to adhere to principles of transparent, non-discrimination, and international competitive tendering.

TCAA is yet to respond to that letter .