Review of Auric Air flight Mwanza Bukoba in Economy

Airline Auric Air
Flight UI102
Class Economy
Seat Ope
Aircraft Cessna 208
Flight time 00:45
Take-off 04 May 14, 08:45
Arrival at 04 May 14, 09:30
UI 2 reviews
BenChDC
By 2391
Published on 2nd September 2015
This flight report is from last year. We had to go to Bukoba in Northwest Tanzania, near the Ugandan border, for a site visit. We actually flew on Auric Air Services from Mwanza to Bukoba, but since neither Auric or Bukoba is listed in the database, I have this tagged as Fastjet (we flew Fastjet from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza) and from Mwanza to Mwanza.

photo IMG_0039

We had to leave our hotel at 4am to catch the 6am Fastjet flight from Dar for a 7:30am arrival into Mwanza. I'm not going to report on that flight as I (and most everyone else) slept through the flight. Luckily the flight arrived on time as we had to take our luggage to a separate Auric Air building a few minutes away. They told us that we were too late to check in but since there were seven of us, they reluctantly allowed us get on the flight.

photo IMG_0041a

Our ride.

photo IMG_0040

It was open seating on the flight and it was full. One of my colleagues sat in the front next to the pilot, who also did the safety demonstration from his seat.

The flight took us over Lake Victoria.



We landed in Bukoba, where the airport is right on the lake. As soon as we got off the plane we were swarmed by lake flies. We all enjoyed some extra protein as we made our way into the terminal.

photo IMG_0045

I wish I could include a few tourist shots but really there is nothing really worth seeing in Bukoba. I will say that the sunrises are beautiful. We stayed in a 'hotel' on a hill that overlooked the lake.



After three days we headed back to Dar via Mwanza. Our pickup at the hotel was late and we were worried that we were going to miss our 6:45am flight but the staff at the hotel told us not to worry as the pilot was still asleep :)

At check is, we noticed that there were a few women who were bringing aboard buckets of water. We jokingly called this fish water as it smelt pretty repulsive and we couldn't figure out why anyone would want to bring these buckets into the cabin (clearly TSA in not enforcing the 100mL rule in Bukoba).

photo IMG_0052photo IMG_0054

We arrived in Mwanza and made the reverse mad dash to the Fastjet terminal to check in for our flight to Dar.
See more

Verdict

Auric Air

1.5/10
Cabin6.0
Cabin crew0.0
Entertainment/wifi0.0
Meal/catering0.0

Mwanza - MWZ

5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

Bukoba - BKZ

5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

Conclusion

I still don't understand why Mwanza needs to have separate 'terminals' as going from one to the other required some careful maneuvering. It is hardly a hub for international or domestic flights. Both the Fastjet and Auric Air flights were fine with some great scenery over the lake.

Related

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 145385 by
    marathon GOLD 10139 Comments
    Even with a limited number of pictures, an archive report on this kind of flight is a trip in an other world.
    Thanks for sharing !
  • Comment 145455 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6744 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this exotic report! Airline and Airport have been added to the database and to your report. Sorry it took so long. Thanks for sharing!
  • Comment 148097 by
    East African 1592 Comments
    As soon as we got off the plane we were swarmed by lake flies => Yes, so typical from the rainy season and very annoying!
    the staff at the hotel told us not to worry as the pilot was still asleep Pole pole rafiki :-)
    we noticed that there were a few women who were bringing aboard buckets of water => Buckets usually do contain fishes (Daaga and/or tilapia) that are extremely cheap compared to what can be found on the seaside!

    Very nice report, looking forward to more


Login to post a comment.