Fastjet to start flights to South Africa, Rwanda, Zambia

PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL Fastjet already operates domestic flights in Angola, Ghana and Kenya under the Fly 540 banner.

What you need to know:

  • News comes a fortnight after the airline’s inaugural results showed a $55.3m (about Sh4.7 billion) pre-tax loss for the 18 months ending December 2012, on revenues of $21.1m (Sh1.8 bn)

LONDON

Fastjet, the African budget airline, operating from Kenya and Tanzania, will expand its operations soon, with flights to South Africa, Rwanda and Zambia by the end of the year.

On Friday, the company — which is backed by Easyjet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou — said: “Fastjet has been granted permission to launch international flights from Tanzania to South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda.”

The airline expects to announce soon the launch dates for these flights, “which include Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg route, currently served by South African Airways only.”

Fastjet CEO and chairman Ed Winter said the company was committed to launching its brand in South Africa as soon as possible.

The news came a fortnight after the airline’s inaugural results showed a $55.3m (about Sh4.7 billion) pre-tax loss for the 18 months ending December 2012, on revenues of $21.1m (Sh1.8 bn).

In the accompanying auditor’s report, KPMG expressed doubts about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern if it did not gain access to international routes and raise additional funding.

But on Friday, Mr Ed Winter described the securing of flights out of Tanzania as “a real breakthrough”.

“That’s what has been holding us back over the past six months,” he said.

“We have spent so much time lobbying to make this happen and had so many false starts.”

Fastjet already operates domestic flights in Angola, Ghana and Kenya under the Fly 540 banner.

It acquired the Fly 540 business from Lonrho — which holds a 49 per cent stake in Fastjet — in July last year.

However, in its results, the company blamed its poor performance at Fly 540 on a series of legal disputes over the past year.

Fastjet received route approvals from the relevant governments under the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs).

The company also said it was putting its plans to launch a domestic service in South Africa on hold.

“This is a monumental day in Fastjet’s history, and brings us closer to our goal of becoming Africa’s first pan-continental low-cost airline,” said Mr Winter.

“We will soon announce launch dates for flights to Johannesburg, Kigali and Lusaka from Dar es Salaam,” he said.