Among the big jets filling the ramp at Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the small green and yellow ATR twin turboprops of Tanzanian regional carrier Precision Air Services feel quite at home. Seven times a day they land and take off to carry passengers to all the principal destinations in neighboring Tanzania, serving both business and leisure markets and proving a perfect match for equity partner Kenya Airways.
The airline has come a long way since it started in 1993, and its contribution to the development of tourism and business links in one of the poorest countries in the world cannot be overstated. When prolonged dry spells that wiped out coffee and wheat production forced local entrepreneur Michael Shirima to close his aerial spraying business, he turned to passenger transport. The time was ripe, as flag carrier Air Tanzania started to withdraw from the domestic market.
