Tanzania Airlines refutes ""abandoned"" plane rumours; blames engine repair delays

Tanzania Airlines has commented in a press release that rumours the airline had abandoned a Boeing 787-8 in Malaysia are “untrue”. The press release states: “The information circulating about its Boeing 787-8 aircraft with registration number 5H-TCJ being abandoned in Malaysia is not true. “Its B787-8 aircraft is in Malaysia for mandatory maintenance of its engines after reaching its expiration date and not major Check-C maintenance”. The statement goes on to explain that the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines used by the 787-8 “must be overhauled every 1,000 flights”: “This is after the discovery of design problems (design) in the systems, especially the washing of the power to drive the aircraft, for many engines of new versions. In addition, these problems have led to the issuance of special guidelines regarding the periodic inspection of the engine if in use. “When the engines are sent for maintenance, they have to wait in a queue or turn (slot) due to the large number of engines waiting for maintenance and thus it takes a long time to complete the maintenance. The lack of additional engines causes the aircraft to wait in the garage until the completion of said repairs. “Currently the maintenance of the engines of our plane in Malaysia are already running and it is expected to return to the country at the beginning of June 2024”. Ladislaus Matindi, CEO of Tanzania Airlines, said: ""Major repairs of our 787-8 (Dreamliner) aircraft are carried out here in the country at our KIMAFA Garage located at Kilimanjaro International Airport every three years or 12,000 hours, whichever comes first. Our garages have experts with experience in carrying out major aircraft repairs of Check-C level. “Since these planes arrived in the country, they have undergone major repairs (Check-C) once, while the first plane that arrived in the country in 2018 was repaired in 2021 and the second one that arrived in 2019 was repaired in 2022. “The problem of the plane staying for a long time in the garage, Malaysia, is due to the lack of additional engines that could be used when the engines are being repaired”.