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https://twitter.com/vernonmugodo/status/1011298821903736832?s=21
one-size-fits-all, European-style, pan-African Low Cost Carrier (LCC) model does not work in Africa because of continued protectionism and regulatory constraints imposed by separate African states, says fastjet CEO, Nico Bezuidenhout.
He was speaking at the recent AviaDev Aviation Development Conference held in Cape Town.
“When you are dealing with 54 independent states and 54 different Air Operator Certificates (AOCs), the ambition to be a pan-African carrier is quite grandiose if you have a single cookie cutter-type of approach,” he said. Instead, fastjet was now acting as a regional feeder carrier, he said, “with the cost advantage of focusing on aircraft utilisation and people productivity”.
Bezuidenhout said that market access had been “one of [his] biggest challenges, frustrations and disappointments at fastjet”. “There needs to be more conviction, well beyond the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). There needs to be action towards a greater level of standardisation at civil aviation authority level,” he said.
His views were echoed during a panel discussion about the future of LCCs in Africa. Sylvain Bosc, fastjet Chief Commercial Officer, said the SAATM made no real impact on LCCs as it applied to intra-continental travel, while LCCs mainly served domestic markets. For intra-continental LCCs to have a future, more African countries needed to provide a level playing field with their state carriers, and stable economic environments conducive to private sector investment.
Girma Wake, former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines and former chairman of RwandAir, said LCCs in Africa operated in a high-cost environment, their costs being the same as those of legacy carriers, including a high fuel price and crippling airport taxes, which prevented proper LCC operations.
Gwenvael Ronsin-Hardy, Senior Project Manager of EGIS Airport Operation, advised African governments to incentivise LCCs. Africa World Airline Commercial Head, Richard Kyereh, suggested African governments and airports cut their aviation charges, while Ahmed Aly, CEO of Nile Air, pointed out that visa restrictions presented a major hurdle to LCC development in Africa.
Future plans
For the next six months, fastjet will focus on cementing its position in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, migrating to a new distribution platform and introducing three more turbo-prop aircraft and new routes in Tanzania. Next, it will set its sights on West Africa. Each case would be on a country-by-country basis, depending on the market opportunity and the potential for collaboration with the national carrier. “It is a matter of ongoing dialogue and relationship building with each country and each government we engage with,” said Bezuidenhout.
2nd July launch date
Besides the new flights, fastjet also released its on-time performance stats for May, getting a 90% score for on-time departures overall, and 86% for Zimbabwe specifically. According to Hein Kaiser, head of communications for the airline, this boost shows an 85% year-on-year growth for the route, which was already increased earlier this year. Last year fastjet doubled the number of flights between Harare and Johannesburg as well as reintroduced thrice-weekly frequencies between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg. fastjet Zimbabwe now operates 92 flights every week. "fastjet is committed to the ongoing development of affordable air travel for everyone in Zimbabwe, and our investment into additional connectivity evidences this. "Our red-eye flights between Harare and Dar es Salaam continue to enjoy popularity," adds Kaiser.
The additional flights between Harare and Victoria Falls equates to a 85% year-on-year growth on the route,” says fastjet’s Hein Kaiser. The airline also introduced additional flights on the route earlier this year.”Fastjet is committed to the ongoing development of affordable air travel for everyone in Zimbabwe, and our investment into additional connectivity evidences this.” Last year, the airline doubled the number of flights between Harare and Johannesburg as well as reintroduced thrice-weekly frequencies between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg. The airline also released its on-time performance results for May this year, again achieving a 90% network aggregate.
To go double daily six times a week
https://twitter.com/vicfallsguide/status/1008958998920429569?s=21 —— 100$ millions HongKong money
FlyAfrica have had their AOC revoked , here comes Bulawayo for Fastjet
Pj if you are referring to the Fjet tweet ( something big is coming) it had nothing to do with the ATR, it was to do with a famous artist onboard.
https://twitter.com/iammrhaas/status/1007496001882648576?s=21 —— https://twitter.com/traveller24_sa/status/1007341572621524992?s=21
http://youtu.be/Z4QHmz67aiE?a —- This is what was coming
http://youtu.be/Z4QHmz67aiE?a —— Full flight
Our CEO certainly sounds upbeat — https://twitter.com/jonrhowell/status/1006816469441761280?s=21 —— What an awesome experience interviewing fastjet CEO Nico Bezuidenhout at #AviaDev lnkd.in/gH3M_BQ
Word has it that the demand is high on the Harare- Cape Town sector. Surely someone is sitting on the job @airzim and @fastjet
https://twitter.com/traveller24_sa/status/1006828163383681025?s=21 ———
Expect a whole range of innovative programmes and projects to roll out in coming months by @fastjet says Nico at #AviaDev
In a revealing statement does Nico of @fastjet admit that the previous one aircraft type jet - the #A319 - was not the right choice of plane to roll out the LCC concept #AviaDev but with a change in fleet are the airline's fortunes improving