FASTJET TANZANIA SHAREHOLDING UNDERGOES MAJOR CHANGES
(Posted 08th December 2018)
From four percent shares to 68 percent shares in one fell swoop makes former Home Affairs Minister Lawrence Masha the majority shareholder of Fastjet (T) Limited after he managed to buy out other Tanzanian partners and also acquired some of the 49 percent stake previously held by Fastjet PLC or their proxies. It is understood that a senior executive of Fastjet PLC does presently hold about a third of the shares but those too appear up for sale to turn the Tanzanian offspring airline into a fully owned company by Tanzanian nationals.
As reported here by ATCNews some weeks ago did local shareholders, faced with the cutting of subsidies by parent Fastjet PLC decide on a buyout and turn the Tanzanian operation into a franchise operation, continuing to use the name, linkages, aircraft and other key elements such as the AOC under which the Tanzanian airline operates.
Given the need for extra cash it is likely though that the present regime at Fastjet (T) may seek a strategic investor to inject capital and set the airline on a solid financial footing.
With Air Tanzania’s new short and medium haul jet fleet soon to start operations, when two brand new Airbus A223’s are due to arrive – formerly known as Bombardier CSeries -300 will it be of paramount importance for Fastjet to resolve these issues, including landing rights in Kigoma and decide if they will stick to the two Embraer E190 aircraft or else seek the introduce turboprops which was planned for an extended period of time before ditching the idea after regulatory obstacles were placed in the airline’s path.
