Precision Air Services Plc (operating as Precision Air; DSE:PAL) is a Tanzanian airline based at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. The airline operates scheduled passenger services to Nairobi and Comoros; and to various airports and airstrips in Tanzania. Kenya Airways owns 41.23% of the airline.

History

Precision Air was incorporated in Tanzania in January 1991 as a private airline and started operations in 1993. At first, it operated as a private charter air transport company but in November 1993 changed to offer scheduled services to serve the growing tourist market. In 2006, Precision Air became the first Tanzanian airline to pass the IATA Operational Safety Audit. In April 2011, the airline became a public company.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Precision Air was privately owned until 2003, when Kenya Airways acquired a 49 percent stake, paying US$2 million, weeks after its rival South African Airways acquired a 49 percent stake in Air Tanzania for US$20 million. The remaining 51 percent was retained by Michael Shirima, the founder of the airline. In October 2011, Precision Air floated shares in its stock in an initial public offering on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange, after which Shirima's and Kenya Airways's stakes declined and the new share subscribers owned 15.86 percent. As of 31 March 2016, the major shareholders were:

Business trends

Because it was a private company until 2011, published figures were not generally available before the initial public offering prospectus of 12 September 2011. Since then, full Annual Reports and Accounts have been published. (, however, those for 2019 and 2020 are still awaited.) Available trends over recent years for the Precision Air group (Precision Air Services Plc and its subsidiaries Precision Handling Limited and Precise Systems Limited) (as at year ending 31 March) are: Published reports in June 2013 indicated that Precision Air had encountered substantial financial difficulties, stemming in part from losses incurred while operating flights to and from Johannesburg, South Africa. Those flights ended in September 2012. The Citizen, a Tanzanian newspaper, reported in August 2013 that the airline "desperately" needed a US$32 million bailout package from the Tanzanian government or other non-shareholder sources. The airline's problems increased in 2011 when it received only US$7.4 million of the US$17.5 million in cash that the airline hoped to receive when first listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Increasing fuel prices, taxes, and levies plus currency fluctuations and the refusal of minority owner Kenya Airways to contribute capital had also hurt the airline.

Destinations

As of January 2025, the airline serves the following destinations:

Partnerships

Codeshare agreements

Precision Air has codeshare agreements with the following four airlines:

Interline agreements

In 2011, Precision Air entered into an interline agreement with Qatar Airways, allowing the latter's passengers to connect to other east African destinations such as Arusha and Zanzibar via Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro International Airport. This agreement includes e-ticketing. As of 23 December 2014, Precision Air also had 21 interline agreements for baggage and paper ticketing purposes with the following airlines:

Fleet

Current fleet

As of November 2022, the Precision Air fleet included the following aircraft:

Historical fleet

The airline has previously operated the following aircraft:

Accidents and incidents

According to the Aviation Safety Network Precision Air has had seven accidents or incidents. One of those caused 19 fatalities.