Tanzania orders a new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to expand international flights

Posted on :Tuesday , 18th July 2017

The government of Tanzania is buying a new Boeing Dreamliner 787 for its national airline, bolstering the Chicago jet manufacturer's year-end order book.

The sale follows private meetings that Jim Deboo, Africa region sales and marketing director for Boeing (NYSE: BA), held with Tanzania President John Magufuli during a visit last week.

A $10 million down payment has already been made on the 787-8 Dreamliner, whose list price is currently $224.6 million, according to the president and a local media report.

The Tanzanian president's office even released a photo showing a smiling Deboo and President Magufuli looking at Boeing Dreamliner marketing materials featuring a 787-8 with Air Tanzania livery. The plane appears to be flying over the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, one the country's top tourism draws.

A statement in Swahili from the Tanzanian president's State House office said its 262 seat Dreamliner will be delivered in June 2018.

The Tanzanian government is currently working to revive its ailing national carrier, Air Tanzania Company Limited.

The Tanzanian president said in the statement he wants a wide body aircraft like the Dreamliner to be able to carry more foreign tourists into his African nation so tourism levels there get closer to those of nearby Morocco.

Along with DeBoo and the Tanzanian president, the African nation's Transport Secretary Leonard Chamriho and Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance and Planning Doto James also participated in negotiations for the Dreamliner.

In addition to buying a Dreamliner, Tanzania said it's also buying two new Bombardier C Series 300 regional jets — one a 137 seater, the second a 150 seater — and a 76 Q-400 turboprop, also sold by Bombardier.

Those aircraft are to be delivered in 2017 and 2018. Bombardier announced those sales publicly three days before Boeing's Deboo visited Magufuli.

Boeing's order website currently includes no order from the Government of Tanzania or its national airline. The jet maker did add two unidentified buyers of single 787s last week.

Boeing Commercial airplanes Africa region spokesman Keelan Morris did not respond to a request for more information.

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