KENYA CAA YIELDS TO GROWING PRESSURE AND GRANTS FASTJET LANDING RIGHTS
(Posted 23rd December 2015)
Relentless pressure on the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority from their Tanzanian counterparts has finally brought the Kenyan aviation Berlin Wall crashing down.
In a breaking news development can it be exclusively confirmed that Fastjet Tanzania will commence flights between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi and also between Kilimanjaro and Nairobi with one way fares as low as US Dollars 80 and US Dollars 50 respectively, plus regulatory charges and airport taxes.
It was said here for months now that the KCAA was desperately trying to keep Fastjet out of the Kenyan skies on routes where their own airline industry was well established but the imminent threat by the new Tanzanian government to once again cap frequencies into Tanzania and limit entry points, similar to their action ten months ago, eventually had the Kenyan aviation bureaucrazy – pun fully intended – yield and approve Fastjet’s landing rights.
It is anticipated that flights between Zanzibar and Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and Mombasa will soon be added as Fastjet has now clearly established itself as a regional aviation force, linking Dar es Salaam not only with four domestic destinations but, when flights to Kenya start on the 11th of January, with five African destinations, namely Johannesburg, Harare, Lusaka, Entebbe and next coming up Nairobi.
Ed Winter, the CEO of Fastjet, shared his Stock Exchange Notice filed just moments ago in London with this correspondent:
‘Fastjet Tanzania has been working towards the launch of these routes for some time and we are extremely pleased that clearance has now been granted to commence operations. To date, passenger traffic between the major cities of Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, which have a combined population of over 8 million people, has been limited by high air fares which we believe, have excluded large parts of the local population from air travel. The only alternative to flying is to undertake a long and difficult journey by road, which can take up to 12 hours. As has been the case with other routes that we have launched, we expect to stimulate the market as passengers embrace Fastjet’s great value, safe, reliable flights and move from road to the air. Nairobi and Dar es Salaam are not only key travel destinations, and two of the busiest’ airports in the region, but also hubs with extensive regional and international networks. Expanding the network into Kenya marks an important milestone in Fastjet’s strategic development and is a significant achievement for the Company, its staff and shareholders’.
Fastjet PLC was also granted an Air Services License by the Kenyan CAA to set up a franchise in Kenya and work towards establishing an operation there are progressing, however with no firm date yet available other than that operations are due to commence in 2016, when an Air Operator Certificate has been attained.
In a related development was it also learned from reliable sources in Harare that Fastjet Zimbabwe will be designated for the route between Harare and Johannesburg after Fly Africa has lost their AOC over a range of unsolved problems as outlined in a court ruling by the High Court in Harare and massive tax claims by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
6 Responses
Marvellous
Words cannot describe how relieved I am that fastjet has made this breakthrough – against considerable unjustified KCAA opposition – into the Kenyan market. With flights between Dar Es Salaam, Nairobi and Zanzibar going live on the same day, the month of January 2016 should hopefully see a massive rise in passenger numbers and revenue. More importantly, fastjet brings European standards of safety, comfort and affordability to millions of new potential customers otherwise priced out of the market.
This is excellent news indeed!! NBO-DAR, KIA and ZNZ was ridiculously expensive. Such a relief to know we’ll get much better rates
Great reporting ?
Haraka Upesi pap! KQ, your high prices will soon lock you out of operation. Someone is intentionally wanting KQ dead so they can buy it dirt cheap!
KA is still sitting ‘dog in the manger’ on MSA airport by refusing to allow it’s own tourist industry to fly passengers direct there. No, they have to go to Nairobi first. Who wants to fly to Kenya for a beach holiday when you then have to waste another day, exhausted, to get down to the coast? KA must be costing the country’s tourist industry at least half their revenue and the tourism Minister never notices. So corruption. So Kenyan.