FASTJET DOUBLES NAIROBI FLIGHTS
(Posted 15th March 2016)
Effective 21st of March, in time for the busy Easter traveling season, will Fastjet Tanzania add a second daily flight between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. This will give cost conscious travelers between the two cities the long awaited option of day trips, cutting out the need for overnight stays either end.
The morning flight will leave Dar es Salaam at 06.00hrs and land in Nairobi at 07.20hrs, turning around directly with an ETD of 07.50hrs and an ETA in Dar at 09.15 hrs.
The second flight has been conveniently scheduled to leave Dar at 20.15hrs, landing in Nairobi at 21.35 hrs and returning to Dar es Salaam at 22.05 hrs with an ETA at 23.30hrs.
Richard Bodin, the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, was quick to point out the addition of some 19.000 additional seats on the route from Dar to Nairobi and back and then added: ‘We have always promised to increase the frequency on our route between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi as consumer demand grew for our affordable, safe, quick and on-time service. The combined Dar es Salaam and Nairobi population of over eight million people was previously subjected to high air fares that we believe excluded large percentages of them from air travel, but now they have a real and affordable choice of airline‘.
Bodin also noted that since Fastjet started flying between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, they have estimated that up to a third of its passengers are been first time flyers who would otherwise not have been able to afford to travel by air between the two cities and rather traveled by bus, adding both time and risk to the journey.
Richard Bodin then concluded his comments when he added: ‘The announcement of an extra 14 flights a week just two months after fastjet starting flying between the two countries on 11 January 2016 emphasises fastjet’s commitment to grow the number of consumers who can access the convenience of affordable air travel. This is sure to have a positive impact both on lives of the county’s citizens as well as on the economic growth of both countries. The additional evening return flights mean that passengers can schedule meetings in either Dar es Salaam or Nairobi, and travel to their destination city and back home within the same day. This convenience and choice is great for business passengers under pressure to maximise time and cost savings, and who do not want to overnight for just one or two meetings‘.
The impact of fastjet flights to and from Kenya has already been substantial, with airline sources pointing out that on the day that fastjet announced that it would commence flights between Tanzania and Kenya, the cheapest fare with other airlines flying between the two countries suddenly dropped by as much as 40%.
Also available for purchase on these route will be fastjet’s luggage upgrade option, ‘Freighty’, that allows passengers to transport up to 80 kg’s of checked-in bags for just US$80. The ‘Freighty‘ luggage option in particular has been popular with traders flying with fastjet to purchase wholesale products internationally and to to transport them back to their home markets to sell.
In a related development has the progress to complete the new international passenger terminal at Dar es Salaam’s Julius Nyerere International Airport been more than impressive with some speculation now talking of an opening much earlier than initially expected. The new terminal will finally bring to an end congestion and poor service standards and catapult JNIA into the 21st century.
Watch this space for future updates on all matters concerning aviation from across the Eastern African region.
