Fastjet exits JRO – NBO route a month after launch

FASTJET SUSPENDS KILIMANJARO – NAIROBI FLIGHTS

(Posted 14th February 2016)

Just weeks into the new route between Kilimanjaro and Nairobi has Fastjet today operated the last flight between the two airports, with sources close to the airline suggesting the suspension came as a result of poor loadfactors.

When the route was launched on the 11th of January did aviation pundits immediately speculate over the size of the aircraft used, an Airbus A319, with common consensus at the time that a smaller aircraft would be better suited on the low density route.

Flights between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi however continue to be operated, with a presently single daily frequency.

‘There simply are not enough passengers between Nairobi and Kilimanjaro to fill an A319 with at least 70 percent. Kenya Airways uses an Embraer 190 and Precision operates an ATR on this route, all smaller aircraft and their load factors on this route are far from full house. No airline can afford to fly planes with low load factors while charging such low fares. The challenge for Fastjet is their single aircraft type model which for some routes is simply too large. When they launch in Kenya they will also realize that the A319 may be too large for some of the routes they were granted in their Air Service Licence. I would not be surprised if they are not sooner or later coming up with a second aircraft type for routes which need to be developed or where the competition has a strong hold on the market’ commented a regular aviation source from Nairobi earlier in the day. Another source added that ‘Most of the traffic between NBO and JRO comes from international travelers who fly via Nairobi into East Africa and prefer to fly to Arusha to start their Tanzania safari from there. There simply is not enough point to point traffic to sustain the operation of a large plane. A traveler from say Arusha takes an hour to the airport, needs to check in two hours before the flight and then it takes about 40 minutes to Nairobi. Those travelling by road via Namanga, where a new highway makes road transport safer and faster so people may think why fly when the overall journey time is the same? This is not like flying from Dar to Mbeya or Mwanza so the route research maybe was not the best’.

The market is now keenly watching when, or if Fastjet will be launching the promised flights from Zanzibar to Nairobi anytime soon or when a second flight between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi is announced. Both domestically and regionally does Fastjet however remain the airline carrying the most passengers within and from Tanzania, suggesting that the business model does work on routes where sufficient passenger numbers help fill their planes.

Meanwhile has Fastjet been nominated as one of a handful of Low Cost Carriers for the ‘Best LCC in Africa’ at the upcoming World Travel Awards and voting continues until the 29th of February.

Further investigations revealed that while the daily flight is no longer available does FN272/271 now show operating days 5 and 7, i.e. Friday and Sunday, at a fare of US Dollars 10, one way, PLUS taxes and regulatory charges.  The airline is expected to issue a statement about the changes and when available will be published here without delay to shed further light on this development.