The Tanzania-based low-cost
carrier, Fastjet, is celebrating its second year of operations with
reports indicating that they have transported more 870,000 passengers
over a distance of approximately 6.5 million km on a total of 8,200
flights since it was first established in November 2012.
According to Jimmy Kibati, the General
Manager of Fastjet East Africa, the company is eager to make travel
more affordable and accessible to Africans.
“Affordable air travel is key to the
growth of economies across Africa - particularly in the business and
tourism sectors,” he said, “It is expensive and time-consuming to build
roads to connect cities, and it is inconvenient for people to travel
over land [and] 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.”
Mr. Kibati went on to indicate that it
was important to maintain the airline’s hub in the commercial capital
of Tanzania given that Dar es Salaam is expected to continue to grow as a
major regional and global center for both industry and trade.
Fastjet first launched its commercial
flight operations in Tanzania on November 29, 2014 with domestic flights
from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro and Mwanza and has since expanded its
network to include additional domestic flights to Mbeya as well as an
international network of flights to South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and
Uganda.
Additional growth is expected for
Fastjet with plans to expand its fleet from three to thirteen A319’s by
the end of next year and further growth in 2016 and 2017 will see the
fleet expand again to 24 aircraft following the expansion of new
affiliates in Zambia, Kenya, and South Africa.
“There are more than one billion
people on the African continent, which is home to just 3% of the world's
aviation business, and the continent remains in desperate need of
improved and affordable aviation connectivity,” concluded Mr. Kibati.
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