Fly540's owner Don Smith has ratcheted up the stakes in his ongoing war with Fastjet (FN) by withdrawing his carrier's brand licences granted to fastjet for Angola, Ghana and Tanzania. Fly540 yesterday claimed that Fastjet still owes its USD7.7 million in licensing fees (
USD6.9 million in Tanzania, USD500'000 in Angola and USD300,000 in Ghana), a claim David Lenigas, Chairman of fastjet, disputed stating that fastjet is the
sole owner of the 540 brand (including fly540 Kenya).
Tanzanian based LCC fastjet (FN) has revealed its first month's operating figures since taking to the skies in late November 2012, with almost 30'000 passengers carried during the month of December, averaging almost 80% loads factors.
Following recent speculation in the South African press, fastjet (FN) has announced that it is indeed currently in negotiations with the management, directors and provisional liquidator of 1Time (T6), the South African LCC that ceased trading last month. The negotiations, which have not yet concluded, and are subject to Board, parent company, and Regulatory approval, would allow fastjet to purchase 1time Airline from its parent company, 1time Holdings.
LCC fastjet (FN) finally became a reality with the launch today of its maiden route from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza followed by Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro later in the morning.
fastjet (FN) yesterday (Tuesday 27 November) celebrated its launch with its inaugural non-commercial flight from Dar es Salaam; a 40-minute round trip over the Indian Ocean above Zanzibar. Note: the carrier's official inaugural revenue flight is scheduled for Thursday 29 November.
fastjet has revealed its first routes to be served when it launches later this month. In an bizarre interview with with Linzie Janis on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown," fastjet CEO, Ed Winter, announced the first destinations to be Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda, though could not give an exact date for operations to start, as "all the necessary government approvals were not yet in place."
FastJet have announced their debut route; that of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya and return. The route's debut flight will operate as a return VIP flight with 3x daily service between the two East African capitals to follow. No specific date, however, was given for the start of operations, though recent news reports have hinted at a possible November date launch.
FastJet, the nascent Pan-African LCC carrier being planned by Stelios Haji-Ioannou of easyJet fame, today announced that its first operating base would be in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, followed by Nairobi, Kenya, pending the certification of the Airbus A319 there.