Did You Know? Tanzania Has 34 Licensed Air Operators

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Did You Know? Tanzania Has 34 Licensed Air Operators — Here's Who They Are
Did You Know?

Tanzania Has 34 Licensed Air Operators — Here's the Full List

From the national flag carrier to hot-air balloon safaris over the Serengeti, the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority currently regulates 34 Air Operator Certificate (AOC) holders. Here's who they are, and what a few of them are actually flying.

Aviation2Day • Industry Insight

Every commercial flight you board in Tanzania — whether it's a Boeing 787 to Dubai or a six-seat Cessna hopping into a Serengeti airstrip — is operated by a company holding a valid Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from the TCAA. As of today, the Authority's official register lists 34 certified operators, ranging from the national carrier to niche balloon-safari outfits most travelers have never heard of.

34AOC Holders
216Registered Aircraft (national)
166Certified Aerodromes
40Approved Maintenance Orgs

The Full List of AOC Holders

Certificate numbers were issued roughly in the order each operator was first certified — which means the list doubles as a quiet timeline of Tanzania's aviation industry. Notice how the lowest numbers belong to the oldest names.

#CompanyAOC No.
1Air Tanzania Company LtdTCAA/AOC/001
2Tanzanair Services LtdTCAA/AOC/002
3Precision Air Services PlcTCAA/AOC/003
4Coastal Air (Coastal Travels Ltd)TCAA/AOC/004
5Tropical Air (Z) LimitedTCAA/AOC/006
6Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)TCAA/AOC/008
7Regional Air Services LtdTCAA/AOC/010
8ZanTas Air LimitedTCAA/AOC/018
9Auric Air Services LtdTCAA/AOC/022
10Flightlink LimitedTCAA/AOC/025
11Air ExcelTCAA/AOC/028
12Serengeti Balloons SafarisTCAA/AOC/029
13Adventures Aloft (T) LtdTCAA/AOC/043
14Safari Plus LimitedTCAA/AOC/046
15Fly Safari AirlinkTCAA/AOC/047
16As Salaam Air LtdTCAA/AOC/051
17Fly Zanzibar LimitedTCAA/AOC/058
18Miracle Experience LtdTCAA/AOC/066
19Jambo AviationTCAA/AOC/070
20Arusha Medivac LimitedTCAA/AOC/071
21My Fly Aviation LtdTCAA/AOC/072
22Unity Air LimitedTCAA/AOC/075
23Level UpTCAA/AOC/076
24Tropic HelicoptersTCAA/AOC/077
25Nyssa Balloon SafarisTCAA/AOC/078
26African SkydiveTCAA/AOC/079
27Kili Med AirTCAA/AOC/080
28Pelican AviationTCAA/AOC/082
29Shine Balloons SafarisTCAA/AOC/083
30Flying OdysseyTCAA/AOC/084
31Miracle AirTCAA/AOC/085
32Pro-FlightTCAA/AOC/086
33Premier Air LtdTCAA/AOC/087
34Grumet AirTCAA/AOC/068

Source: TCAA official AOC Register, tcaa.go.tz. Ordering reflects the Authority's published register, current as of July 2026.

Did you know? Air Tanzania's certificate — TCAA/AOC/001 — is the oldest on the entire register, a direct line back to the airline's founding in 1977 after the breakup of East African Airways.

Fleet Spotlight: What Are They Actually Flying?

TCAA's public register doesn't publish a per-operator aircraft breakdown, so exact fleet counts aren't something we can pull from a single official table. But several of Tanzania's biggest operators disclose their own numbers — and together they tell an interesting story about how varied this industry really is.

Air Tanzania Company Ltd (ATCL)

16 aircraft

The flag carrier's own numbers put its fleet at one Dash 8-Q300, five Dash 8-Q400s, four Airbus A220-300s, two Boeing 737 MAX 9s, three Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, and one Boeing 767-300F freighter. That's a striking jump from a single aircraft in 2016 — and government targets call for 24 aircraft by 2030.

Precision Air Services Plc

~7 aircraft

Tanzania's largest privately-run scheduled carrier operates an all-ATR turboprop fleet (ATR 42-500, 42-600, and 72-500 variants). Kenya Airways holds a 41.23% stake. The airline added two more aircraft to its lineup in August 2025 to ease capacity pressure from rising tourism demand.

Coastal Air (Coastal Travels Ltd)

Roughly 15–25 aircraft, depending on source and date

"The Flying Safari Company" runs one of the largest fleets in the country by aircraft count, built mainly around Cessna Grand Caravan 208Bs and Pilatus PC-12s, feeding more than 40 destinations including remote bush airstrips across Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda.

Auric Air Services Ltd

19 Cessna Grand Caravans, plus Dash 8 and Pilatus PC-12 aircraft

Based out of Mwanza, Auric Air markets itself as flying one of the youngest Caravan fleets in the region, serving over 40 destinations and roughly 10,000 passengers a month.

Three More Things Worth Knowing

Balloon safaris have their own certification tier

Serengeti Balloons Safaris, Shine Balloons Safaris, Nyssa Balloon Safaris, and Flying Odyssey each hold independent AOC certificates. Watching the sunrise over the Serengeti from a hot-air balloon is, technically, a fully regulated commercial air transport operation.

Zanzibar has its own cluster of dedicated carriers

Fly Zanzibar, Tropical Air (Z) Limited, ZanTas Air Limited, and As Salaam Air Ltd all hold certificates focused on archipelago routes — a reflection of how much inter-island and mainland-to-Zanzibar traffic the tourism sector generates.

Air ambulance operators are certified separately from general charter

Kili Med Air and Arusha Medivac Limited hold dedicated AOCs for medical evacuation flights — a distinct category from the safari and scheduled operators on the same list.

AVIATION2DAY — Aviation media, education & technology, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Figures on total AOC holders and national aircraft registrations sourced from TCAA's official website (tcaa.go.tz), current as of July 2026. Individual operator fleet figures are drawn from each airline's own published materials and industry sources, and may shift as aircraft enter or leave service.

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