Fastjet Tanzania
IATA ICAO Callsign
FN FTZ GREYBIRD
Founded2011 as Fly540 Tanzania
Commenced operations29 November 2012 as Fastjet Tanzania
Ceased operations25 November 2019
AOC #038
Operating basesJulius Nyerere International Airport
Fleet size4
Destinations8
Parent companyFastjet Plc
HeadquartersGround floor, Samora Tower, Samora Avenue, Dar es salaam, Tanzania
Websitewww.fastjet.come

Fastjet Airlines Limited (Tanzania), also known as Fastjet Tanzania, was a low-cost airline that operated flights under the fastjet brand in Tanzania.[1] The airline was founded in 2011 as Fly540 Tanzania, but through the acquisition of Fly540 in 2012, it was rebranded as Fastjet Tanzania. It was based in Dar es Salaam. The airline carried more than 350,000 passengers in its first year of operations and sold one million seats by December 2014.[1] It went into liquidation on 25 November 2019.

History

Fastjet Tanzania was founded in 2011 as Fly540 Tanzania, a subsidiary of Kenya-based Fly540. Using a Bombardier CRJ100 and a Dash 8-100,[2] it flew to eight destinations in Tanzania and two in Kenya.[3]

In June 2012, Fly540 was acquired by Rubicon Diversified Investments, which intended to merge all of Fly540's operations into its new venture Fastjet.[4] Fly540 Tanzania suspended operations on 13 October 2012 before being rebranded as Fastjet Tanzania.[2]

Fastjet Tanzania started operations as Fastjet's first operating base in Africa, with flights from Julius Nyerere International Airport commencing on 29 November 2012. Initial flights operated successfully between Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro, and between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. Further routes were to be added quickly, both domestically and to other East African destinations.[5] By August 2015 it had come to operate domestic routes linking Dar es Salaam with Mwanza, Kilimanjaro and Mbeya, and four international routes from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg, Harare, Entebbe, Lilongwe and Lusaka.[1]

Ultimately unable to generate sufficient cash flow to cover its debts, the airline was declared insolvent and a liquidator appointed on 21 December 2019.[6]

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Fastjet Tanzania was originally 49% owned by Fastjet Plc. On 14 November 2014, it was announced that Fastjet Plc had entered into an agreement to sell an interest in fastjet Tanzania to Tanzanian investors. The issue of the shares brought the total Tanzanian legal and beneficial ownership of fastjet Tanzania to 51%.[7]

Business trends

Fastjet Tanzania began trading on 29 November 2012, and financial results were incorporated in the Fastjet Plc group accounts. Some information had been made available for the Tanzanian operation (as at year ending 31 December):

A Fastjet Tanzania Airbus A319 at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Turnover (US$ m) 3.6 26.1 53.8 64.6 59.7
Profits/losses after tax (US$ m) −11.9 −21.9 −22.5 −24.5 −45.0
Number of passengers (m) 0.03 0.37 0.60 0.78 n/a*
Passenger load factor (%) 78.9* 72.5 73.3 66.7 n/a*
Number of aircraft (at year end) 3 3 3 5 3
Notes/sources *Dec only
[8] 		[citation needed] [9] [10] [11]
Note: *Passenger numbers and load factors are only published at Group level.

Head office

Fastjet Tanzania maintains a head office in Samora Avenue, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.[12][13]

Destinations

As of March 2018, Fastjet Tanzania served the following destinations:[14]

Base
Future
Terminated route
City Country IATA ICAO Airport
Arusha and Moshi Tanzania JRO HTKJ Kilimanjaro International Airport
Dar es Salaam Tanzania DAR HTDA Julius Nyerere International Airport [Base]
Entebbe Uganda EBB HUEN Entebbe International Airport (ended 3 December 2016) [15]
Harare Zimbabwe HRE FVHA Harare International Airport
Johannesburg South Africa JNB FAOR OR Tambo International Airport (ended 15 January 2017) [16]
Kigoma Tanzania TKQ HTKA Kigoma Airport[17]
Lilongwe Malawi LLW FWKI Kamuzu International Airport (ended 8 February 2016)[18]
Lusaka Zambia LUN FLKK Kenneth Kaunda International Airport
Mbeya Tanzania - HTGW Songwe Airport
Moroni Comoros HAH FMCH Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport[19]
Mwanza Tanzania MWZ HTMW Mwanza Airport
Nairobi Kenya NBO HKJK Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (ended 3 December 2016)[20]
Zanzibar City Tanzania ZNZ HTZA Abeid Amani Karume International Airport[21]

Cargo

Fastjet signed an agreement with one of Africa's largest cargo operators, BidAir Cargo, to carry cargo on its fleet of Airbus A319s.[22]

Fleet

The Fastjet Tanzania fleet included the following aircraft as of June 2017:[10]

Fastjet Tanzania fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
ATR 72-600 — 3[23] 70
Embraer 190 2 — 100 June 2019
Total 2 3

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Proposed placing to raise gross proceeds of at least GBP 50 million". Fastjet. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Fly540 Tanzania suspends operations ahead of Fastjet launch". Ch-aviation. 14 October 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ "African low-cost carrier Fastjet announces Dar es Salaam base". Ch-aviation. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Lonrho sells Fly540 to Rubicon as basis for new African LCC FastJet". CAPA - Centre for Aviation. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  5. ^ Fastjet tickets go on sale Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Easy.com (13 November 2012).
  6. ^ Alex Malanga. "Tanzania's low-cost airline, Fastjet, declared insolvent, dims revival hope". The Citizen. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Fastjet strategic update". Fastjet. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Results for the 18-month period to 31 December 2012". Fastjet. Retrieved 1 June 2013.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2014" (PDF). Fastjet. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2015" (PDF). Fastjet. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2016" (PDF). Fastjet plc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Contact fastjet." (Archive) Fastjet. Retrieved 7 May 2013. "fastjet Tanzania Plot No 767/39, Suite No. 1 Samora Avenue Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 38639 Upanga"
  13. ^ "Feedback." (Archive) Fastjet. Retrieved 7 May 2013. "fastjet Head Office Plot No 767/39, Suite No. 1 Samora Avenue P.O. Box 38639 Upanga Dar es Salaam Tanzania"
  14. ^ "Destinations". Fastjet. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Fastjet network changes from Dec 2016". 3 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  16. ^ "FN202 flight tracking". 15 January 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  17. ^ "Fastjet launches sixth route in Tanzania". The Citizen. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Malawi's ailing economy forces regional fastjet to suspend flights into Malawi". The Maravi Post. 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  19. ^ Thome, Wolfgang H (14 November 2015). "Fastjet Tanzania gets sixth international route". Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  20. ^ "Fastjet network changes from Dec 2016". 3 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  21. ^ "Fastjet Adds Zanzibar Route from Jan 2016". Airlineroute.net. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  22. ^ "South African upgrades, Fastjet turns to cargo". aircargoworld.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  23. ^ "Fastjet". PlaneSpotters.net. Retrieved 12 October 2020.

External links

Airlines of Tanzania
Categories