fastjet, the low-cost pan-African airline, is celebrating the major milestone of flying two million passengers across the African continent. This achievement come 15 months the airlines first million passengers in January 2015, thanks to its expansion into Tanzania and further afield across East and Southern Africa.
Since its launch in November 2012, fastjet has flown more than 21,800 flights between its domestic routes connecting Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya and Zanzibar in Tanzania, and its international routes to Johannesburg in South Africa, Lusaka in Zambia, Harare and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Entebbe in Uganda and Nairobi in Kenya.
“fastjet has flown just over 281,000 flights at our cheapest domestic and international fares, and has grown its fleet to five A319 aircraft,” says Richard Bodin, fastjet’s Chief Operating Officer. “We have also increased flights to more than 250 scheduled return flights a week across our network, making air travel affordable and accessible to more Africans and enabling them to fly more often for business and leisure.”
The airline revealed that it has carried over 900,000 items of baggage in line with its policy of charging passengers for items of luggage, which is consistent with low-cost airline best practice worldwide.
“fastjet has remained committed to stimulating business and tourism on the African continent, and these figures give an insight into the impact that low-cost air travel has already had – and the potential that it offers for future growth,” says Bodin.
“We’ve made it possible for entrepreneurs to be spared the time it would have taken them to travel between cities by road, for families who would otherwise be disconnected by distance to reconnect with one another, and for tourists to connect to some of the continent’s most remarkable destinations, such as Kilimanjaro and Victoria Falls.”
Highlighting the impact that affordable air travel can have on the growth of African economies is the US$22 million figure in airport and government fees and taxes that fastjet Tanzania estimates it has collected from its passengers on behalf of the various countries and airports that it flies to and from. Furthermore, the company has committed US$15 million to growth and development in Zimbabwe, in support of the Zimbabwean government’s goal of growing inbound tourism.
The airline now directly employs more than 230 people in Tanzania, 46 people in Zimbabwe, and it estimates that it has indirectly created employment for a further 500 and more in secondary services in all the countries it flies to.
“fastjet continues to engage with governments and civil aviation authorities on the continent to expand its network,” Bodin adds. “It took us two years to fly our first million passengers, and just 15 months to fly the next million. We’re looking forward to making it possible for more people to fly to more destinations, with nearly four out of ten fastjet passengers flying for the first time.”