African low-cost airline, fastjet has signed a letter of intent with ICBC International Leasing Company with the view to leasing one A319 aircraft.
The low-cost airline currently has a fleet of three aircraft which are fully utilised, and additional aircraft will be required to support the planned expansion of the airline.
This is the first of a number of aircraft that fastjet are planning to add to its fleet this year, with each additional aircraft able to offer up to 1,000 extra seats per day.
"It will be a strong step forward to add another aircraft to our fleet and embark on our planned expansion funded by our recent £50 million placing. We are currently negotiating to bring further aircraft into the fleet," Chief Executive Officer Ed Winter said in a statement.
Based on the 75 percent load factor currently being projected, each aircraft is expected to carry approximately 275,000 passengers per year.
Fastjet’s target is to have up to 34 aircraft operating to 40 destinations within and from Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda by the end of 2018.
The airline has recently revealed another record breaking month in terms of passenger numbers after the airline carried a total of 68,088 passengers – a fastjet record.
April saw 2,500 more passengers than the previous monthly record, set in December 2014, and represents approximately 90 percent growth since April 2014.
The airline achieved a load factor of 73 percent for the month, up 7 percent on April from the previous year, and punctuality stats remained high with 92 percent of flights arriving on time. Capacity was up 15 percent month on month.
“April was yet another record-breaking month for fastjet and continues our recent trend of reporting significant year on year growth in passenger numbers,” Ed Winter said.
“Carrying over 68,000 passengers is a considerable achievement and is testament to our position in the Tanzanian market, the attractiveness of our low-cost fare structure and operational reputation,” he added.
Related Content
