(Alliance News) - Africa-focused low cost airline fastjet PLC said Thursday that trading in the first two months of 2020 was below management expectations, while noting the number of covid-19 cases in South Africa.
Trading in January and February were affected by an oversupply of capacity in the Harare to Johannesburg and Bulawayo to Johannesburg markets, as well as continued inherent challenges in Zimbabwe.
As a result, fastjet's Zimbabwe unit is looking to consolidate its current schedule with reduced flights where there is an oversupply of capacity and weaker than expected yields for the next 100 days.
The Zimbabwean domestic market meanwhile is performing in line with expectations.
Concerning the coronavirus outbreak, fastjet noted that South Africa announced 13 confirmed cases of the virus, while Zimbabwe has no confirmed cases announced.
fastjet said it is monitoring the the change in demand and booking demands coming from the outbreak. The group said it is ready to enact further schedule restrictions if required should there be any escalation in confirmed cases.
Looking ahead, fastjet said that an investor consortium led and underwritten by Solenta Aviation Holdings Ltd remains committed to fastjet's disposal of its Zimbabwe business.
Discussions are ongoing, and fastjet said it expects all pre-conditions to be met by the end of March, and the transaction to be completed in April.
Due to delays in the sale of fastjet Zimbabwe, fastjet has engaged with its main creditors, who have agreed to defer due dates for repayments or settlement discounts to current carrying values.
Based on financial projections, fastjet now has enough resources to continue operations until the end of June, barring unforeseen circumstances or reductions caused by the coronavirus.
Shares in fastjet were down 3.5% at 0.14 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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