Happy Second Birthday to Fastjet

FASTJET TANZANIA CELEBRATES SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF TAKING TO THE AIR

(Posted 28th November 2014)

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Two years can be an eternity for a startup airline and there are examples in East Africa that some did not survive even the first two months of operations before folding again. Not so with Fastjet Tanzania which is tomorrow celebrating their second birthday after taking to the skies for the first time on 29th of November with their maiden flight from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro and Mwanza.

Since then did Mbeya come on line as a third domestic destination served out of Dar and were four international destinations added, Johannesburg, Lusaka, Harare and Entebbe.

Yet, inspite of fleet average load factors well into the 70 percent range and on time performances consistently in the low 90 percent range has this still to translate into black ink on the bottom line of the company’s balance sheets, a reminder of the challenges airlines face in Africa and the deep pockets needed to turn startup losses into sustained profitability.

While Tanzanian authorities were described by company officials as ‘extremely helpful’ did Fastjet face an uphill struggle elsewhere, with in particular the South African authorities gathering black marks against their name as they stopped the inaugural flight on the very eve of the planned maiden service between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg, choosing that very moment to ask for ‘additional documentation’ to throw a spanner in the works of Fastjet and give their own national airline another few weeks of exploiting the market with high fares. Kenyan regulators in the meantime did the same and worse when they deferred Fastjet PLC’s application for an air service licence to set up a franchise airline in Kenya and are equally stalling Fastjet Tanzania’s route rights between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, a bad example of protectionism and a clear violation of the spirit and letter of aviation protocols in place for the East African Community, COMESA and leave alone the Yamoussoukro Declaration they happily invoke when their own airlines run into similar challenges over traffic rights to other African countries.

Still, Fastjet carried nearly 900.000 passengers since its maiden flight two years ago in their Airbus A319 fleet, and were it not for regulatory shenanigans could well have reached the 1 million passenger mark in time for their second birthday.

Ed Winter, the CEO of Fastjet PLC which is based in the UK where it is listed on the London Stock Exchange, had this to say as the big day approaches: ‘Affordable air travel is key to the growth of economies across Africa – particularly in the business and tourism sectors. It is expensive and time-consuming to build roads to connect cities, and it is inconvenient for people to travel over land.Even if there are existing airlines connecting two cities, the flights typically involve at least one stopover. Furthermore, the exorbitant fares charged by airlines on these routes exclude the majority of a country’s citizens from enjoying the convenience and timesaving benefits of airline travel.In spite of major regulatory challenges encountered as we rolled out our international route expansion, the encouragement that we have received from the Tanzanian government has been remarkable – for which we are extremely grateful.We believe that there is great potential for the low-cost carrier model in Africa, and we are committed to working with governments across the continent to promote the benefits of competition in the aviation sector, that will in turn lead to better fares for passengers’.

To give passengers a piece of the proverbial birthday pie will Fastjet hold a one day special sale on the 03rd of December with domestic fares selling at US Dollars 20 PLUS TAXES AND REGULATORY FEES and US Dollars 50 PLUS TAXES AND REGULATORY FEES for their international routes.

Key objectives for the third year of operations will be the establishment of Fastjet Zambia where the company has recently obtained the initial regulatory approvals and licenses and is now working towards attaining their Air Operator Certificate, prerequisite to commence flight operations and to get regulatory approvals from the Kenyan authorities to set up Fastjet Kenya, a process made deliberately difficult by multiple objections filed by competitors as well as underhand tactics by the regulators in Nairobi. Other objectives for year three will be operationalizing fifth freedom rights given to them by the Ugandan CAA for flights from Entebbe to Juba, Kigali, Nairobi and Johannesburg.

Meanwhile though is a birthday party looming large on the horizon and on that occasion all the best and Happy Landings always to passengers and crews.