New ATCL Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner takes taxi test in US, social media

What you need to know:

The arrival of the plane will make the eighth Air Tanzania Limited fleet to eight planes, which include three Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400s, two Bombardier CS300s, one Airbus 220-300 and one Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

Dar es Salaam. The second Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to be acquired by Air Tanzania Limited took a taxi test on Saturday October 12, 2019 in United States.

The picture showing the plane ready to take off was posted on Ms Jennifer Schuld twitter account, who identifies as hack photographer of new Boeing jets, old war birds, and other interesting flying objects at Paine Field/PAE near Everett in Washington, USA.

Although, the time for delivery of the plane is yet to be revealed, but the picture of the new Boeing 787-8 ready to touch the sky was unveiled over the weekend with ATCL colour, christened “Rubondo Islands- Hapa Kazi Tu”.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American long-haul, mid-size wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Its variants seat 242 to 330 passengers in typical two-class seating configurations.

The 787 was designed to be 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than the Boeing 767, which it was intended to replace, according to Wikipedia.

When asked the date of delivery of new plane, the Air Tanzania managing director Ladislaus Matindi said the government is yet to get a delivery, but promised to give more details on the development.

“We have not received a delivery note. When we will receive it, we will know when the plane will touch the ground of Tanzania,” he said in a telephone interview

Speaking in parliament in April this year, the deputy minister for works, communication and transport Atashasta Nditiye said two planes including Bombardier D8-Q400 and a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were expected to be delivered at the end of this year.

The arrival of the plane will make the eighth Air Tanzania Limited fleet to eight planes, which include three Bombardier Dash 8 Q-400s, two Bombardier CS300s, one Airbus 220-300 and one Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

The delivery of the eighth plane is part of the government plan to revive the national carrier, which has managed to control the local aviation market share to more than 80 per cent.