LONDON (Alliance News) - Fastjet PLC Tuesday said passenger numbers rose again in May at its own-brand operations in Tanzania, and outgrew an increase in capacity meaning its planes were more full, although numbers were down including the Fly540 operations being restructured in Ghana and Angola.
The low-cost African airline, which is based in Tanzania, said it flew 43,020 passengers in May, up from 24,233 a year earlier, while load factor, a measure of how full its aircraft are, rose to 71%, fom 67%. It had increased its capacity 11% from April.
"I am delighted to see our capacity increasing as we maximise the utilisation of resources, particularly our aircraft, as planned. We expect to announce further increases in capacity, including new routes, in the very near future," Chief Executive and interim Chairman Ed Winter said in a statement.
On a rolling 12 month basis to the end of May, Fastjet's own operations flew 408,178 passengers, up from 168,373 in the previous 12 month period.
Including the legacy Fly 540 operations, total passenger numbers fell to 71,320 in May, compared with 81,581 in May 2013.
Fly 540 operations in Ghana and Angola are suspended pending further restructuring, and the company said it will only report monthly traffic figures from Fastjet's own operations in future because Fly540 passenger numbers are no longer relevant in evaluating the performance of the business.
Fastjet shares were down 3.5% at 1.675 pence Tuesday morning.
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @SteveMcGrath1
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