Fastjet Tanzania crosses million passenger mark

Low-cost carrier, Fastjet Tanzania has crossed the one million passenger mark, according to figures released at the London Stock Exchange where Fastjet PLC is publicly quoted.

According to information posted on the latest edition of travel news website, eTurbo News, this was the first time Fastjet Tanzania ever recorded a profitable trading month since it commenced operations.

This comes as a result of a 20 per cent increase in yields per passengers in December, indicative of late bookings at higher fares, leading to a revenue increase of 106 per cent compared to December 2013.

The monthly result raises the hopes that should the trend of carrying more passengers continue, and utilisation of their aircraft fleet for more hours per day than before, then the financial fortunes of the company could rapidly improve, helping to make up the startup losses.

Fastjet Plc Interim Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Winte said the announcement of their first profitable trading month is a great achievement and a huge milestone to becoming a Pan-African low-cost airline.

“We have already proven that the low-cost model works to stimulate traffic and we have now shown that it can create a profitable business,” he said. “The Tanzanian fleet of three aircraft is now producing more than double the monthly revenue compared to a year ago.”

Negative turn

The load factor for December, in spite of more flights, improved by two per cent over 2013, and the uplift of 65,653 passengers was the best so far in the history of the company. On time departures however took a negative turn to only 89 per cent, still high though in comparison to most other airlines in the region. This was prompted by delays as a result of several bird strikes caused by the less than satisfactory performance of the bird control unit at Dar es Salaam International Airport.

The number of flights operating has been reduced to match capacity to expected demand and reduce costs. The fuel price in January will provide a further 13 per cent reduction on December prices. The Company pays current market rates for its fuel thus realising substantial benefits from the reduction in the cost of crude oil.