Opening up East Africa

FASTJET has big plans for
East Africa. The airline
recently introduced a
fourth international route
between Dar es Salaam and
Entebbe. It also announced
plans to establish a second
hub in Kenya.
The airline has received
permission from the Uganda
Civil Aviation Authority to
operate flights from Uganda
to Johannesburg, Juba,
Nairobi, and Kigali under
Fifth Freedom rights using
Tanzanian-based aircraft.
Once the authorities in the
relevant countries provide
their approvals, fastjet
Tanzania will be able to offer
flights linking Entebbe with
these destinations.
In June, Air Uganda
was grounded due to
an on-going audit by the
International Civil Aviation
Organization on the Uganda
Civil Aviation Authority. With
the announcement that
operations would not be
resumed, Air Uganda said in
a press statement: “This is
a Uganda Government issue.
Air Uganda has passed the
Iata Operational Safety Audit
– IOSA – and is a member
of Iata.”
Ed Winter, ceo of fastjet,
says: “The recent lack of
capacity has resulted in
price hike by other airlines
flying into the region and,
consequently, we saw
the opportunity to enter
the market with sensible
pricing.”
Since the Entebbe route
opened for bookings in
September, Ed says demand
for the service has been
good. “If things continue in
this regard we will be able to
move to increase our offering
to daily flights quickly.”
Ed says fastjet’s new
route to Entebbe will be an
advantage to South African
business travellers. “At the
moment, people in Africa are
travelling further than they
have to – our mandate is to
make that easier.”
Fastjet expects to
strengthen its positioning
within East Africa, hoping
to develop its presence in
the region accordingly. In
line with this vision, fastjet
is in the early stages of
developing a new hub in
Kenya. The airline has
submitted its Air Service
Licence (ASL) application
to the Kenyan Civil Aviation
Authority with plans to
launch domestic and
international flights from
the new base. Ed says once
fastjet is presented with its
ASL, it will then be able to
apply for its Air Operator
Certificate, which he expects
could take up to six months.
The challenges of launching
the operation, Ed says,
are that, aside from the
development of a new hub,
the airline has also been
trying to get permission to fly
from Tanzania to Kenya, an
endeavour it continues
to pursue.
Once fastjet’s base in
Kenya is up and running
there are a number of
possible new international
connections, he says. These
would include Johannesburg,
Entebbe, Kigali, Dar es
Salaam, Juba, and Malawi.