After very recent reports about a new budget airline for South Africa, Standby Travel, there is now talk of a different budget airline said to service a different part of Africa, namely Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. The name of this one? FastJet.
Lonrho Plc is the company launching FastJet and it’s said to take off as soon as October this year, using Airbus A319s for all their flights. According to a report on Tourism Update, the Airbus A319 has proved an ideal aircraft for the low-cost airline model in other parts of the world. These 156-seat aircrafts were chosen after an in-depth evaluation of a wide range of different aircraft options and is ideally suited to what seem to be major expansion plans following the launch.
“The decision to launch FastJet with the Airbus A319 enables us to expand rapidly, with each aircraft potentially carrying around 250,000 passengers a year. Rubicon expects passenger numbers to double from current levels within six months of the introduction of the A319 fleet,” said Rubicon Chief Executive, Ed Winter. Lonrho Plc announced the sale of its aviation business to British investment firm, Rubicon last month. “We plan to add at least five leased A319s to the fleet within six months of launch and up to 15 within a year.” This, also according to Ed Winter.
As we all know, low-cost travel is a strong need in the African market. According to John Leahy, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer, “FastJet will open up low-cost travel to the African market, and the Airbus A319 will bring new levels of comfort to air passengers across Africa. It is a great combination.”
And it seems like they have thought of everything. David Lenigas, Executive Chairman of Rubicon and Lonrho Plc, said that FastJet had already stated its intent to raise the bar on air safety in Africa by operating its aircraft under the same strict rules that applied to European carriers.
If FastJet is successful, then it will definitely make many African travellers very happy.
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