New budget airline for East Africa ready for take off

Posted by Adel Groenewald on 19 October 2012

Even though budget airlines in South Africa are coming and going at top speed, East Africa has never really had an airline that offers affordable flights from one place to the next. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever booked a flight to Kenya, Tanzania or Botswana. It gets close to the price of a flight to Europe.

The situation is becoming a little brighter though. Fastjet is said to be the first airline to offer truly affordable flights around East Africa. First talks of this aerial breakthrough started in July this year, and they promised to launch their first flights in October. (Read the story here.) Well, they aren’t far off the mark.

According to a report on Condé Nast Traveller, the first flights will take off in November. One-way flights between Nairobi in Kenya and Dar es Salaam on the coast of Tanzania are said to be as low as $20 (about R170) and it’ll make an African bush-beach-break that much more affordable. You might even be able to eliminate tour operators and book your own holiday to East Africa.

However, according to an article on Global Travel Industry News, Fastjet is ‘pulling a fast one’ on passengers by hiding certain costs. They say that, although the fare is only $20, it doesn’t include fuel supplements or airport taxes and fees, so the final ticket price ends up being much higher than $20. Supposedly, you’ll be charged extra for baggage as well. Read the full article here.

We’ll have to wait and see whether Fastjet does, in fact, turn out to be the solution to East African travel.

For more information, visit www.fastjet.com.

 

To book a 14-day Kenya and Tanzania package through Getaway Adventures, click here.

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