WATCH exclusive content from this year's World Routes Strategy Summit. Here we highlight the key factors that are holding back fastjet in in its ambition to develop a pan-African network from the 'Airline Challenges & Growth Concerns' panel session.
The expanding airline already operates into Zimbabwe from the Dar Es Salaam base of its original Tanzania business, but the arrival of the new aircraft represents a significant step forward in its activities in southern Africa. It will initially use the aircraft to launch domestic flights between Harare and Victoria Falls.
This winter, fastjet will add additional capacity on routes to Johannesburg, South Africa; Harare, Zimbabwe and its recently launched service to Lilongwe, Malawi this winter, as well as increasing its domestic offering to Kilimanjaro and Mwanza.
The budget carrier has seen a strong start to the year with its Tanzania business reporting a 52 per cent rise in passenger numbers in May 2015 compared to the same month last year. Over a rolling 12 month period to the end of May 2015, the airline carried 716,350 passengers, up 76 per cent on the previous 12 months.