Zimbabwe next for Fastjet as recruitment starts

FASTJET ZIMBABWE ENTERS RECRUITMENT PHASE

(Posted 22nd May 2015)

Good news are in the pipeline for Zimbabweans looking for employment in the aviation industry after Fastjet has just launched a major recruitment drive as the airline is getting ready to go operational.

After Fastjet (Z) received its Air Service Permit (ASP) in March 2015 is the airline now focused on submitting the remaining documents to complete the application process for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC). Once this certificate has been issued, can Fastjet (Z) launch commercial operations and commence flights on domestic and soon thereafter regional routes.

Senior airline staff welcomed hundreds of Zimbabwean job-seekers at its first official recruitment drive on Sunday, 17th of May 2015 at the Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare. Available positions include openings for pilots, preferably with Airbus A319 rating, cabin crew, ground operation staff, operations and dispatch supervisor positions.

Richard Bodin, the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, in a communication just received commented on the exercise when he said: ‘We were highly impressed with the calibre of applicants interested in coming to work for our new airline. We are looking forward to working with the people of Zimbabwe to build a reputation for Fastjet Zimbabwe as a friendly, customer-focused airline that offers an affordable and reliable service to its passengers’.

The new airline expects to employ a similar number of staff as it has for Fastjet Tanzania, which after two years, employs nearly 200 people directly and hundreds more working in secondary services supporting it.

The recruitment drive comes after the Zimbabwean Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, which administers the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, granted the company an Air Service Permit (ASP) in March 2015. This ASP paved the way for the airline to continue its plans to establish a majority locally-owned, low-cost airline that will give Zimbabweans the freedom to fly between major towns within the country and to cities abroad, at affordable fares.

The Fastjet Zimbabwe team is now concentrating to submit the remaining necessary documents to complete the application process for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and once this certificate has been issued, Fastjet Zimbabwe will have formal approval to commence flights.

It was reliably learned that the airline will begin flights from Harare to Victoria Falls and Bulawayo, making it possible for Zimbabweans and international visitors to travel across the country at affordable fares.

Once flights have been launched on domestic routes will the new airline then apply for landing rights from Harare to

Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, Nairobi in Kenya, and Lusaka in Zambia. These destinations will offer Zimbabwean citizens and visitors a greater choice to travel across the wider region as they pursue commercial and tourism opportunities.

One way domestic fares on Fastjet Zimbabwe will start from US$20 and one way international flights will cost as little as US$50 for early bookings, excluding airport and government taxes. These fares are similar to those offered by Fastjet in Tanzania and for flights to and from Johannesburg, Lusaka and Entebbe. The airline has subsequently been named the cheapest low-cost carrier in Africa by flight comparison site, WhichAirline.com. The earlier passengers’ book, the lower will be the fare they have to pay.

All of these fares will be available through www.fastjet.com/zw, selected travel agents as well as Fastjet call centres and sales offices.

Added Mr. Bodin then in closing: ‘We have worked closely with the Zimbabwean government in our investment plans to establish Fastjet Zimbabwe, collaborating with all parties concerned to build a new airline that will create jobs and grow the aviation sector in the country. Fastjet Zimbabwe will also make it easier for the people of Zimbabwe and its neighbours to do business, visit their friends and family, or enjoy leisure travel. Affordable air travel is key to the growth of economies across Africa – including Zimbabwe – and particularly in the business and tourism sectors. Our low-cost strategy is to make air travel more accessible to more people to grow the aviation market, and make it possible for more Zimbabweans to experience air travel. Competition is good for consumers. It brings choice and it brings air fares down. More Zimbabweans will be empowered to fly. That can only be a good thing’.

Supporting this belief is the research undertaken by the airline in 2014, which showed that 35% of its passengers were first time flyers who would otherwise not have been able to afford to travel by air.

Fastjet Zimbabwe is a Zimbabwean registered company which meets all the required nationality standards under which it can be named by the Zimbabwean CAA as a designated airline to fly to other countries under existing bilateral air services agreements. It has a local board of directors who provides the necessary support and guidance to ensure compliance with the Zimbabwe regulatory framework and good corporate governance practices. The airline will, when operational, pay all required taxes to the Zimbabwe government, as well as all necessary fees to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe.

Fastjet is an airline brand already well known to Zimbabweans after Fastjet Tanzania launched flights to Zimbabwe from Dar es Salaam in August last year. It initially operated flights twice a week between Harare International Airport and Dar es Salaam’s Julius Nyerere International Airport, using an Airbus A319 jet aircraft with an all economy seating capacity for 156 passengers.

The airline however quickly doubled frequency on the Harare – Dar es Salaam route by adding a third and fourth weekly flight between the two cities in response to passenger demand, and now flies every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

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