08:55
FastJet
said it’s in talks about adding more Airbus Group NV (AIR) short-haul
jets to the fleet as the discount carrier seeks to open bases in Zambia,
Zimbabwe and Kenya next year while expanding operations in Tanzania.
FastJet, which currently operates three
Airbus A319s, is negotiating with a number of leasing companies about
aircraft availability in the next three to six months, with expansion
plans calling for as many as 13 of the type by the end of 2015, Chief
Executive Officer Ed Winter said today in an interview.
“People were skeptical about us putting
A319s into Africa but they’ve worked well with good reliability and
punctuality,” he said. “We’re getting close to saying these planes are
full and I hope we’re about to see an opportunity to really expand.”
FastJet’s strategy through the end of
next year calls for seven A319s to be based in Tanzania, where
operations began in 2012. The London-based carrier also envisages
stationing three planes in Zambia, together with two in Zimbabwe, where
Robert Mugabe’s government has proved receptive to approaches, Winter
said, while a sole aircraft could be located in Kenya.
FastJet shares traded 6.8 percent lower
at 1.38 pence as of 11 a.m. in London after it posted an underlying
first-half loss of $30.5 million, before interest and tax. The expansion
needs funds beyond 15 million pounds ($24 million) raised in April, and
Winter said talks are ongoing with African backers and that he’d also
be receptive to a deal with an airline investor.
Discussions are under way about a more
immediate plan to source two A319s from the leasing unit of Industrial
& Commercial (1398) Bank of China Ltd., Winter said. The aircraft
would replace planes due to be returned to Volito Aviation Services of
Sweden, in which Goldman Sachs Inc. (GS) has a minority stake.
FastJet still aims to secure an air
operating certificate for Zambia by the end of this year and could add
international routes quickly there, Winter said. Talks in Kenya, which
the airline once earmarked for its initial base, have been more drawn
out, and local rules will require a year of domestic-only flying before
foreign services can be added, he said.
The carrier’s plans to establish the
first pan-African discount network will continue to focus on East Africa
for the foreseeable future, the CEO said, with the possibility of bases
in Angola and Ghana, where it already holds AOCs, receding.
Bases could open in South Africa and
Uganda in 2016, while by 2018 Winter sees a fleet of up to 34 jets, nine
in South Africa, seven in Tanzania and Kenya, four in Uganda and
Zimbabwe and three in Zambia. FastJet’s first international route, Dar
es Salaam-Johannesburg, began last October, and it has since added
services from the Tanzania city to Lusaka, Harare and Entebbe.
Winter said talks have resumed on
implementing a code-share deal with Dubai-based Emirates, the No. 1
international airline, for which Dar es Salaam is an expanding
destination. Middle Eastern carriers are candidates to invest in
FastJet, where EasyJet Plc (EZJ) founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou holds a 10
percent stake but has been critical of recent pay awards to executives.
The first-half loss included $13.9
million from Tanzania and $13.5 from the Angola and Ghana operations,
now suspended. Tanzanian sales almost doubled to $19 million, with both
the customer total and revenue per passenger up about 40 percent.
Source: Pesatimes
