Summary
- Air Tanzania’s Boeing 787 has been stuck in Malaysia for nearly seven months due to Rolls-Royce engine issues.
- Delayed engine maintenance and lack of spare engines have caused the extended grounding of the aircraft.
- The Boeing 787 is expected to return to Tanzania in June 2024.
One of Air Tanzania’s Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners has been grounded in Malaysia for nearly seven months, undergoing maintenance. The aircraft operated its last commercial flight in August 2023 and is expected to return to Tanzania in the next few weeks.
Nine months out of service
Amidst ongoing concerns about the 787-8’s time on the ground, Air Tanzania’s Director General, Ladislaus Matindi, disclosed that the aircraft had faced issues with its Rolls-Royce engines and is undergoing engine maintenance rather than a C-check. Furthermore, the lack of spare engines has forced the aircraft to be out of service for over half a year.
Photo: Swissport
The aircraft in question has registration 5H-TCJ. It was delivered brand new to Air Tanzania in October 2019. It is powered by two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. Speaking about the issue, the Air Tanzania boss said in a statement (translated from Swahili),
“ATCL’s Boeing 787-8 aircraft use Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. According to the guidelines of the Civil Aviation Authority and the engine manufacturers, it has been necessary for the engines to be overhauled every 1,000 jumps. This is after the discovery of design problems in the systems, especially in the washing of power to drive the aircraft, for many engines of the new versions. In addition, these problems have led to the issuance of special guidelines regarding the periodic inspection of the engine if in use.”
Matindi also added that the engines must wait for a slot when sent for maintenance due to the large number of engines awaiting maintenance. This increases the time that the aircraft is on the ground. The maintenance is reportedly underway, with the aircraft expected to return to Tanzania at the beginning of June 2024.
Related
Air Tanzania Airbus A220 Returns Home After 7 Months Impounded In The Netherlands
The aircraft has returned to Dar es Salaam and is expected to resume operations soon.
One of two Dreamliners
Air Tanzania currently has two 787-8s in its fleet. The other aircraft, 5H-TCG, remains in service. The carrier also has a third one on order, which is expected to be delivered later this year. Flightradar24 shows that 5H-TCJ operated its last commercial flight between Dar es Salaam (DAR) and Guangzhou (CAN) on August 12 before flying to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) on November 9, 2023.
About a month after the initial grounding of the 787, Air Tanzania announced the temporary suspension of flights to Guangzhou, with reports of one of its aircraft being due for heavy maintenance. The service was reinstated in November 2023. The airline also started deploying its Airbus A220 and Boeing 737 on the route from Dar es Salaam to Mumbai (BOM) after the Dreamliner went out of service.
Photo: Preston Fiedler
Matindi highlighted that 5H-TCJ was not undergoing heavy maintenance or a C-check in Malaysia. Major repairs of its 787 fleet are done at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). The two aircraft have undergone C-checks once since they were delivered. 5H-TCG went into maintenance in 2021, while 5H-TCJ went into maintenance in 2022.
In addition to its two 787s, the airline has two Boeing 737 MAX 9s, one 767 Freighter, four Airbus A220-300s, one DHC-8-Q300, and five DHC-8-Q400s. In 2022, the Tanzanian national carrier was forced to ground three of its A220s after facing issues with its Pratt & Whitney engines. Last year, the airline planned to team up with Air Senegal to find ways to mitigate the effects of the groundings.
What are your thoughts on this story? Please let us know in the comments!