1 Nov 2013 07:00
fastjet plc
("fastjet" or the "Company")
1 November 2013
First fastjet flight takes off to Mbeya
fastjet, Africa's low cost airline, announces that its first flight from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya in south west Tanzania departed on schedule this morning. Mbeya is the fifth Tanzanian destination in the fastjet network, which already includes Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.
This new route enables fastjet to provide affordable fares to the people of Mbeya, a city located close to Tanzania's borders with Zambia and Malawi. The recently opened Songwe Airport, 10km outside Mbeya, has now been upgraded to accommodate jet aircraft, enabling fastjet to commence services to and from this important, densely populated region. Bookings on the new route are extremely strong with passenger loads of over 90% on the first day's flights.
Following the recent launch of fastjet's Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg service, today's flight marks another significant milestone in the expansion of the fastjet network. fastjet now offers over 45,000 seats on more than 300 flights per month and expects to add Lusaka in Zambia to its network in the near future.
Ed Winter, fastjet's CEO, said:
"I am really pleased with the continuing momentum in the development of our network. Network scale is important in terms of offering more choice to our customers and also in terms of covering overhead costs and moving our Tanzanian operations towards profitability. As we approach the one year anniversary of the first fastjet flight, the Board is delighted with the strong operational progress we are now making both in Tanzania and elsewhere in southern Africa."
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About fastjet plc
fastjet plc is the holding company of the low cost airline fastjet which commenced flights under the fastjet brand in Tanzania in November 2012. The airline introduced Airbus A319s into its fleet.and by adhering to international standards of safety, quality, security and reliability; fastjet has brought a new flying experience to the African market at unprecedented low prices. fastjet is implementing the low-cost model across Africa and its long-term strategy is to become the continent's first low-cost, pan-African airline. fastjet plc is also the holding company of Fly540, which operates in Kenya, Ghana and Angola.
The results of a recent customer satisfaction survey showed that 100% of customers were likely to recommend fastjet to a friend. In developing its strong brand and identity, fastjet has won and been nominated for a number of awards, including winning three Transform awards for the rebrand and launch of fastjet and the award for "Brand Strategy of the Year" at the recent Drum Marketing Awards in London.
fastjet plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market.
For more information see www.fastjet.com