ANOTHER RECORD MONTH FOR FASTJET
(Posted 10th September 2015)
Fastjet uplifted a record number of passengers during the month of August out of Dar es Salaam with 76.741 passengers boarding either domestic flights or services to other African countries. The figure constitutes a loadfactor of 75 percent, also less than the previous month by about 4 percent due to the launch of additional flights to Malawi, with the new route pushing that figure temporarily lower. The uptake of the additional two services to Lilongwe however was described as promising and loadfactors are expected to rise again in the future. These are by the way all data proudly revealed by Fastjet month after month in line with disclosure practices for companies listed on the London Stock Exchange while other airlines shroud such information under a veil of secrecy, rarely responding to requests for details.
Repeated closures of the international airport in Dar es Salaam during the period in question pushed on time arrivals down to 88 percent from the previous month when it stood at 95 percent, largely as a result of military exercises which required normal air traffic to be halted at times for hours.
| Month ending | August 2015 | August 2014 | Change |
| Passengers Note 1 | 76,741 | 65,496 | 17.2% |
| Load Factor Note 2 | 75% | 79% | -3pp |
| Rolling 12 months ending | August 2015 | August 2014 | Change |
| Passengers Note 1 | 759,254 | 487,745 | 55.7% |
Said Ed Winter, CEO of Fastjet PLC, when making the announcement yesterday: ‘We are delighted to report record monthly passenger numbers for the second consecutive month, further affirming the growing appetite for low-cost aviation across southern and eastern Africa. August is traditionally a strong month but with a capacity increase of 23% versus August 2014, we are delighted to maintain such strong demand’.
What will be interesting to watch will be data for September, a month when the airline upped their departures to Johannesburg from four a week to daily, and the subsequent month of October, when flights to Lusaka and Harare started to be a combined and daily service compared to stand alone destinations with lesser frequencies until mid September.
Kenyan travelers in the meantime keep watching from the sidelines with a degree of envy how their Tanzanian counterparts continue to enjoy some of the lowest fares on the continent when travelling not just on domestic routes – Fastjet serves Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and Mbeya out of Dar es Salaam – but also when flying to South Africa’s main aviation hub Johannesburg, to Harare, Lusaka, Lilongwe and Entebbe. Fastjet is still waiting to have their landing right application approved by the Kenyan CAA which has used changing goalposts to keep Fastjet off the route from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi while equally sitting on Fastjet PLC’s application to set up a Kenyan franchise, leading to massive allegations against the regulators. Unlike earlier in the year though is it unlikely that the Tanzanian CAA is again instituting punitive measures against Kenyan airlines flying into Tanzania while the election campaign is ongoing, though, according to one source can a surprise move not be ruled out while the politicians are busy seeking votes and taking the eyes off such regulatory affairs. For breaking and regular aviation news from the wider Eastern African region look no further but this space.
