Precision Air

Believe what these other reviews say. Precision Air are really as appalling as they say. Our flight in December from Zanzibar to Nairobi was cancelled 2 hours after it was scheduled to depart. Until then we had been informed it was just delayed. This meant we missed our return international flight from Nairobi to London. I understand. These things happen. Precision Air then flew us into Dar Es Salaam late at night explaining they would then fly us on to Nairobi next day. They transported us to a hotel about an hour drive from the airport where we arrived around 1 in the morning. They asked everyone to be in the lobby at 3.30 the same morning (2 hours later) for transport back to the airport to catch the 5.10am flight to Nairobi. So everyone bleary eyed at 3.30 in the morning waiting for a transport which never came. We were then told it will be here at 7.30 9am 11 am etc. Nothing to be done but give up on transport and organise our own way back to the airport by negotiating with the hotel manager. We actually paid for the Dar Es Salaam to Nairobi flight ourselves as we could not trust Precision Air to organise it. Ruined a great relaxing holiday but lesson learnt.

We flew 3 routes on Precision Air: NBO-JRO 12/27/14 JRO-ZNZ 01/08/15 and ZNZ-DAR 1/11/15. Each flight arrived early at its destination. Check in and baggage check/claim was efficient. Staff were friendly and efficient. Planes were clean and beverage service appropriate for the short flights. When we wanted to change our departure time from ZNZ to DAR the agent at JRO was extremely friendly. She took care of everything and even emailed us the change. When we arrived at ZNZ for the changed flight Precision asked us if wanted to take a slightly earlier flight they had added for the holiday. Again very courteous staff.

Delayed 9 hours 21 December 2014 from Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar. Also delayed from Zanzibar to Nairobi/Copenhagen - 28 hours! No refund no food or drink - no service at all!

I recently returned from a holiday in Tanzania with my parents. I visit Tanzania every year but it was my parents trip of a lifetime of which was ruined by Precision Air. We had 4 flights booked with Precision and 3 of these flights were either severely delayed or even cancelled without us being advised. On arrival our flight from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro was delayed over 5 hours. We then spent a lovely weekend on Zanzibar which was completely ruined when it took Precision over 14 hours to fly us home from Zanzibar to Kilimanjaro (a 1 hour flight). The worst however was when they cancelled our flight to Entebbe (where we had connections to Dubai) and did not advise us. When we got to the airport they advised this flight had not been operating for over 3 months yet the airline did not advise us! They rushed us onto another flight via Nairobi but refused to check our luggage through even though we did not have visas for Uganda - all they wanted was to get us out of their way! As expected once we got to Entebbe we had endless problems trying to get our luggage then were advised that our tickets were not issued properly and Emirates would not let us on our flight to Dubai. We were stranded for over 24 hours in Entebbe and neither Precision or Emirates did anything to assist. My advice as a seasoned traveller to Africa and Tanzania. Stay away from Precision air - there are plenty of other options that will get you to your destination on time.

If you are contemplating flying with Precision Air I would caution you before you book. I had 2 experience with Precision recently flying return between Nairobi (NBO) and Kilimanjaro (JRO). Our first leg between NBO and JRO was fine departed and arrived on time and fair service onboard with a cold drink served and a pack of cashew nuts. 2nd leg JRO-NBO was a real problem. Arrived at 8.30am for our 10.55am flight was told our flight was cancelled and put on 3pm flight. No apology and treated it as a matter of fact. It wouldn't be as much problem if we didn't have a connecting flight to catch in Nairobi to Dubai at 4.40pm. So what was an easy connection with more than 4 hours to spare originally arriving NBO at 12pm became 4pm leaving 40mins to catch our connecting flight. Apart from the extra 4 hours spent at JRO which had nothing much to offer we had to stress about whether we could catch our connect flight to Dubai (and later the Maldives). They didn't have the courtesy to contact us beforehand in which case we could alter our subsequent flights. No explanation given as to why the flight was cancelled. While we were there there were a few passengers showing up with news of their flight to Zanzibar being cancelled as well so it appears this is not rare occurrence. Once again avoid if possible but if you must fly try to pick a busier slot so it won't be cancelled.

A group of us flew with this company from Zanzibar to Nairobi and were extremely disappointed with the service. Upon arriving at the airport they would not allow us to check in without paying a $49 fee ($9 airport fee and a $40 'safety fee'). Nobody on the flight had been told there would be a fee and while our group managed to scrape the money together other groups did not. Friends of ours flew the same route on the same day but with a different airline and were not charged. To add insult to injury our flight was then delayed two hours once we finally got through to departures and we had no money for food or water to pass the time.

We flew with Precision Air from Zanzibar to Kilimanjaro and 2 weeks later from Kilimanjaro to Nairobi. For the first trip (Zanzibar via Dar es Salam to Kilimanjaro) we got up at 4.45 am to get our early flight. After waiting for a long time at the airport we heard our flight at 7.40 am was cancelled and that we were put on the next flight from 12.10 pm.… Not a very nice message to convey to 3 young kids who are looking forward to starting a safari adventure. According to our original schedule we would arrive in Kili at 11am according to our new schedule at 17.00hrs! As compensation we were each given a bottle of cola. The transfer time in Dar would have been more than sufficient for a copious lunch however the terminal the national flights only has one small snack bar. Anyway this is Africa so you cannot expect too much in addition we were on holidays so we spend some money in the airport bookshop and patiently waited. After some very unclear messages via the intercom our patience was challenged again: Our flight to Kili was delayed. Total confusion in the lounge as it was unclear until when it was delayed. I went to the ground staff and told our story of getting up at 4:45am and the fact that almost 12 hrs later we were still in Dar. She then told me that she was surprised that we were on the 7.40 flight as this flight had been non-existent for 3 months. How could we have reserved it on the Precision website less than 3 months ago? Eventually we got there. If you have to fly with Precision prepare for the massive disconnect between the attitude of ground and flight staff and the Precision slogan: ”you are why we fly”. Their planes are OK but especially cabin staff is selected on unfriendliness and arrogance.

I flew from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro then Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar and finally Zanzibar to Nairobi with Precision Air. The aircraft's were acceptable and the air stewards were cordial and polite however the ground handling and check process was terrible. On the outbound flight 2 members of our party were told that the tickets they had were not valid for travel (we all had identical tickets) one of the team was injured on our climb of Kilimanjaro and was transported home early and even though his insurance company and the travel agent had organised the early flight home they attempted to charge him for a new ticket. On our final leg from Zanzibar to Nairobi a different 2 members of the party were told that the tickets they had were not valid and that they needed to purchase new tickets we saw another passenger actually purchase a ticket. We refused to part with any cash and after 3 hours of stress and confusion suddenly the tickets were valid - basically the ground crew were trying to extort money from us and when they realised this was not going to work they gave up. I will never fly Precision Air again.

PW713 DAR-NBO via ZNZ. Equipment: ATR72. Flight was about 25% full first leg 90% second. FA's did not enforce the turning off of electronic devices before takeoff and landing and were not strict enough with passengers standing up and going to the toilet during taxiing. Apart from this FA's did a great job and everything was perfect. They were friendly and the snack/drink service was carried out efficiently. Snack was very basic (a tiny packet of cashews - although good quality ones). Drink selection limited to juice and major soft drink brands. Beverage serving sizes very small but top-ups were allowed. Magazine was excellent. Flights were all on time.

Three trips: Dar-Kilimanjro June 2012: was booked on a 7am flight but there were three Precision Air flights to Arusha being announced around the same time massive confusion in the lounge I got on a flight but not the one intended. 1 hr delay. The bus shuttle into Arusha is good and cheap though no complaints about cabin crew or plane. Return Kilimanjaro-Dar June 2012: this time I was late and check-in desks at Kili airport had closed. I was able to locate a Precision Air staff member though and was checked in. Galloped through the baggage checks etc only to find that we had to sit down and wait 20 mins for departure (still more or less on time). Departure was delayed after boarding while we waited for an ex-president and his entourage to make their leisurely way to the plane. Dar-Johannesburg December 2011: on arrival at Dar airport (before check-in) we were eventually told that the flight had been cancelled. Flights to Jo'burg via Nairobi the next day were offered in return. After two hours of faffing around passengers were taken to hotels. We cancelled our trip instead (only having a few days of holiday) went home and spent the short break in Lushoto. It took 3 months of phone calls and visits to the office to get the ticket refund but when it eventually did go through we were paid in cash USD. Would not have been possible if we hadn't been based in Dar.