Fastjet ready to launch in SA

Cool E said:
competition starts....

SAA, KULULA and Mango must descrease the prices
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They won't...

I unfortunately predict FastJet to have financial issues inside of 12 months due to their affiliation with the Zuma family.
 
Cool E said:
they wont be a bailout next. DA will not allow that(assuming they win elections).
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as you constantly point out the DA does not run the country. They can complain about it but it would be up to the government (ANC) to decide and that decision would be to bailout their cadre deployed friends.
 
Edward Zuma, the eldest son of the president, may then possibly have been brought on board to soften regulatory scrutiny according to Venter.
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South Africa is not a banana republic. Chicken or beef .. ? :whistle:
 
Cool E said:
competition starts....

SAA, KULULA and Mango must descrease the prices
Click to expand...

Won't happen.

That's what tanked 1Time.

Unfortunately ACSA has a stranglehold on the airports in this country and airlines are limited to their (ACSA's) rates.
This isn't Europe where competing airports charge lesser rates in order to attract low cost airlines...
 
Fastjet pushes back South Africa launch

Aspiring pan-African carrier now aims to start its South Africa services with Johannesburg–Cape Town flights from early July.
Fastjet’s South African flights will start in early July, rather than late May, as the carrier aims to first improve its ticket distribution, said Kyle Haywood, head of the carrier’s South African operation.

"At the moment the target date is the first week of July," he told Routes News.

"We are just working on some further enhancements to the distribution system for the product in the country and the web. We decided to upgrade certain elements of that so that it is a stronger proposition from day one."

Fastjet, which had earlier considered reviving the bankrupt 1time airline, is now poised to operate in South Africa through Fastjet Holdings, a local company 25% owned by Fastjet and 75% by local investors headed by Edward Zuma and Yusuf Kajee.

Local operator Federal Air will provide services under its own licence in South Africa, initially though a six-month wet-lease of a B737-300 from Star Air Cargo, a leasing company based in Johannesburg.

In the longer term, Fastjet aims to secure permission from South African authorities to operate one of its A319s.

Johannesburg–Cape Town flights, which will launch Fastjet in South Africa, had been due to fly from May 31, according to a company press release issued last month.

The Johannesburg–Cape Town route is ranked as the world's tenth busiest route by passenger volume by Amadeus, with about 4.4 million travellers in 2012.

In other African countries, fastjet already operates fastjet Tanzania, Fly540 Kenya, Fly 540 Ghana and Fly540 Angola.

Fastjet is now looking to expand its network with international routes from its base in Tanzania, said Haywood.

"In particular, we are looking at the route connectivity between Tanzania and South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya and we’re working with Uganda and also looking at a Zambia connection to Dar es Salaam."

But although the airline is "able and ready" to open new routes, it is still securing governments’ approval and is currently focused on its existing bases, he added.

"We’re waiting for things to happen now and pushing for those things to happen in Tanzania – and obviously the South African base and project will require a lot of attention and time and focus – and that will keep us busy between the two," he said.

"That will keep us busy until the end of the year and beyond, before we can look at different bases’ development."
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http://www.routes-news.com/news/1-news/1439-fastjet-pushes-back-south-africa-launch
 
Skywise, Fastjet to debut in South Africa within 1 month of each other

SkyWise (SWZ, Johannesburg Oliver Reginald Tambo International (JNB)) are planning to launch operations from August 1, ch-aviation can exclusively report. The carrier, founded by various ex-1time airline (T6, Johannesburg Oliver Reginald Tambo International (JNB)) board members, is eyeing a five times daily Johannesburg Oliver Reginald Tambo International (JNB) - Cape Town D. F. Malan International (CPT) service to be plied with two B737-300s; one based in each city. According to CEO, Rodney James, the airline plans to exploit the "huge demand" in the South African market by bringing in "much needed competition". Fellow débutant, Fastjet (FN, Dar-es-Salaam (DAR)), are also due to enter the South African market in the next few weeks with a tentative launch date set for July 1.
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http://www.ch-aviation.ch/portal/ne...in-south-africa-within-1-month-of-each-other’
 
I might use SkyWise.. but I will think twice before using Fastjet while it is affiliated to the Zuma family.
 
ToxicBunny said:
I might use SkyWise.. but I will think twice before using Fastjet while it is affiliated to the Zuma family.
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I feel the same. Do not want to support anything so closely and and publicly tied to a Zuma. Also, listened to a interview with one of the SkyWise guys and they are gonna do a system where you only pay once you have flied. Not sure exactly how it works...but you book online and it gets reserved on your credit card. Only once you have flown does the amount get charged to your credit card....so their aim with this is to alieve peoples fears of booking and paying....but the airline fails before their flight.
 
FastJet to overcome African obstacles

Cape Town - Dogged by a series of snags in its attempt to create Africa's first continent-wide low-cost airline, FastJet remains confident it can tap a market of 1 billion people after early success in Tanzania.

Protectionism, red tape and poor infrastructure have hampered FastJet since it launched operations six months ago in the world's poorest continent, where people fly once in 15 years on average compared with twice a year for Americans.

“Africa is a bit like Europe in the 70s, all the routes are controlled by governments ... often with a lot of protectionism built in,” said Ed Winter, chief executive of FastJet, which is backed by Lonrho and the UK's easyJet.

When flying in Tanzania from capital Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro or Mueza, Winter says 38 percent of passengers are first-time flyers, testament to Africa's potential for growth.

“These are routes where people have in the past been travelling by bus or just not travelling at all ... now they just jump on our airplane and move, exactly what the low-cost model is designed for,” Winter told Reuters on the sidelines of an IATA meeting of global airlines in Cape Town.

Fastjet flights in Tanzania sell for as little as $20.

Despite its problems, Africa's aviation sector is set to soar on the back of robust economic growth in the resource-rich continent. Plane makers such as Boeing and Airbus are eyeing potentially buoyant orders as more Africans turn to air travel.

“When you look around the world at where low-cost airlines have gone in and brought affordable, good-quality travel to people ... the market expands,” Winter said.

Capturing just 2.5 million regular customers making four trips a year would be enough to fill 40 aircraft, said Winter. And at $100 a ticket, this could translate into a $1 billion business within a relatively short space of time.

But cracking a tough and unforgiving market will be no easy ride for FastJet, as it competes with established global players who control 82 percent of the air traffic between Africa and the rest of the world.

African executives attending IATA airline talks in Cape Town complained they risked losing a battle for African skies to Middle Eastern and European airlines such as Turkish, which are quickly expanding routes. In many cases it is easier to fly out of Africa to change planes and then fly back in.



DIRECT ROUTES

But Dubai's Emirates defended the influx, saying it created opportunities that otherwise would be blocked by a lack of political approval for many direct routes within Africa.

“Intra-African demand is huge but they restrict themselves,” said Emirates airline President Tim Clark in an interview. “Africa is a powerhouse. We are moving African business that has demand for the points that we serve. I am not unsympathetic but they need to improve infrastructure and market access.”

FastJet, which intends leasing Airbus planes, also faces high operating costs, especially for fuel, which in Africa is on average 21 percent more costly than elsewhere.

Landing fees can range anywhere from $80 to $800 for small planes in Africa, said Raphael Haddad, regional vice president for Canada's Bombardier, which sees a flourishing market for its new CS100 CSeries jet.

According to airline consultant Nick Fadugba, chief executive of African Aviation Services, FastJet has a relatively high-cost structure despite its low-cost business model. “It will need deep pockets to succeed,” he said.

Yet Fastjet's growth potential has piqued the interest of other African airlines, which are wary of losing more passengers and revenue as the local aviation industry struggles with operating margins averaging less than 1 percent.

“I don't know if it will happen tomorrow, but if it makes sense we will go ahead and do it,” said Titus Naikuni, chief executive of Kenya Airlines, asked if it would consider a low-cost carrier option.

Successful low-cost carriers already operate in South Africa, Africa's largest economy, where FastJet intends launching in early July to compete against South African Airways' Mango and Comair's Kulula.com.

Nico Bezuidenhout, chief executive of Mango, said challenges in Africa, which include the problem of distributing tickets to passengers because of weak online access and credit card usage, could be overcome.

South African customers can purchase Mango tickets with at Shoprite for instance, or even use a clothing store credit card to buy tickets and pay the bill over 12 months.

“These are all ways ... that we bring the low-cost carrier model into the hands of the population,” he told Reuters. - Reuters
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http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/fastjet-to-overcome-african-obstacles-1.1527143
 
Correction

Shake&Bake said:
That's what tanked 1Time.
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Not what I hear
Old gas guzzling aircraft
Bad management ? ( after takeover )

Shake&Bake said:
Unfortunately ACSA has a stranglehold on the airports in this country and airlines are limited to their (ACSA's) rates.
This isn't Europe where competing airports charge lesser rates in order to attract low cost airlines...
Click to expand...
Far as I know LANSERIA is NOT controlled by ACSA -- perhaps there are a few others around ?
Maybe the new guys can build a few airports NOT controlled by ACSA ?
 
Plans for fastjet service in SA hit more turbulence

PLANS for low-cost carrier fastjet to start offering services in South Africa may have hit another snag after the London-listed company failed to pay a deposit in time to secure the Boeing 737-300 it had planned to use for its Cape Town to Johannesburg route from July 4.
“They did make a deposit but we have sent it back,” Star Air Cargo CEO Peter Annear said last week. “We had other people wanting the aircraft, their deposit didn’t arrive in time and we had to offer the aircraft to the other party,” he said.
The airline, which last month reported a loss of $52.4m for the 18 months to end-December, causing its auditors to raise an “emphasis of matter” about its ability to continue operating as a going concern, has been trying to get a South African business off the ground since December when it made an offer for bankrupt 1time Airline.
This bid was abandoned in March and fastjet then entered into an agreement with locally based Federal Air to operate its flights in South Africa. This was done to meet regulatory limits on foreign ownership.
Fastjet SA MD Kyle Hayward has not responded to e-mails sent last Friday, a text message on Monday and voice messages yesterday asking him to confirm whether fastjet has found a replacement aircraft for its operations, which are scheduled to start in less than a month.

CEO Ed Winter also did not respond to an e-mailed request for clarity on the matter on Wednesday.
Mr Winter was made acting chairman of the airline yesterday after executive chairman David Lenigas unexpectedly announced that he was leaving the airline to pursue his own business interests. Mr Lenigas’s departure must be seen against the backdrop of Swiss group FS Africa’s buyout of Lonrho, which owns 49% of fastjet, for £175m last month.
Questions have been raised about the new Swiss parent’s interest in a small, loss-making start-up airline in Africa which has had a series of operational setbacks and legal battles, particularly with its partner in Kenya, since it started operations in November.

In its April plan to launch the Cape Town-Johannesburg service with Federal Air, fastjet said that it would partner with President Jacob Zuma’s son, Edward, and other undisclosed shareholders by the end of May.
Mr Winter said in December that “the acquisition of 1time supports fastjet’s growth into a pan-African low-cost carrier and the synergies with fastjet’s existing operations will potentially increase the number of available route networks from SA into the rest of Africa”.

Mr Annear said Star Air Cargo would operate the Boeing on behalf of Federal Air. Federal Air MD Brad Dickson did not respond to voice and text messages on Wednesday.
Comair, which operates British Airways flights and low-cost carrier kulula, notified the regulator, the Air Services Licensing Council, that it was concerned about the structure that was being used by fastjet to enter the local market, as it appeared to be “fronting”. The regulator is understood to be studying this.

Fastjet’s African businesses are struggling. It started operations in November in Tanzania, where it planned to base itself as an East African hub operation out of Dar es Salaam. But a lack of action by the Tanzanian government has stunted its plans and fastjet has only been able to operate flights between Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and, more recently, Zanzibar.
Mr Winter expressed frustration in April as two of the three Airbus A319s fastjet had leased to service the region remained grounded.
In its latest annual report, fastjet said Tanzania had undertaken to open up international routes for it by the end of next month.
Fastjet also has operations in Angola and Kenya, where it has had a prolonged legal battle with its founding local partner, Kenya Fly540. Its operations in Ghana have been suspended because of the high taxes in the country.
The company also said in its annual report it was looking to reduce its 90% holding in the Tanzanian operation and was “in initial discussions with a number of Tanzanian investors” to this end.
Last week Virgin Atlantic abandoned its London to Accra route because of the country’s high taxation on the aviation industry.
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Maybe Zuma kept the first deposit for himself lol. Shame....I almost feel sorry for Fastjet. I dont think they expected doing business in dark Africa would be this difficult.
 
Fastjet to launch int'l flights, puts S. Africa on hold

Reuters) - Fastjet, the African budget airline backed by easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, said on Friday it had been granted permission to launch international flights from Tanzania to South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda.

Fastjet said the route approvals had been granted by the relevant governments under the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) between Tanzania and the other countries.

However, the company said it had decided to put the launch of fastjet-branded domestic routes in South Africa temporarily on hold so that it can "direct all its efforts and resources to starting its international services as soon as possible".

Fastjet also said it had signed a new three year equity financing agreement for up to 15 million pounds ($23.52 million) with Darwin, a subsidiary of Henderson Global Investors Volantis Capital, after having drawn 1.13 million pounds from its existing facility.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/14/fastjet-idUSWLB003IP20130614
 
fastjet granted SA flight route

Tanzania - fastjet has been granted permission to launch international flights from Tanzania to South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda marking a major step towards establishing the first-ever pan-African low-cost network.

The route approvals have been granted by the relevant Governments under the Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs) between Tanzania and the other countries, the airline said in a press release.

Ed Winter, CEO and Chairmperson of fastjet said, “This is a monumental day in fastjet’s history and brings us closer to our goal of becoming Africa’s first pan continental low-cost airline."

Domestic routes in South Africa however are temporarily on hold, as fastjet focuses on directing all its efforts towards its international services.

“Bringing the fastjet brand to South Africa is a cornerstone in the creation of our pan-African network. We remain totally committed to launching the fastjet brand in South Africa as soon as possible, but given all the time and effort the team has invested over the past months to secure our international route designations, we have taken the sensible decision to prioritize setting up these lucrative and high profile routes first, before turning our attention to launch the fastjet brand on domestic routes in South Africa.”

"To date our growth has been inhibited by lack of international routes in our network. We have expended huge effort over the past six months in obtaining these rights and we can only thank the government and population of Tanzania who have lobbied hard to allow us to gain access to the bilateral rights to operate to these countries.

The airline will soon be announcing launch dates for flights to Johannesburg, Kigali and Lusaka from Dar es Salaam.

“South African Airways has had a monopoly on this route for far too long and we are very keen to offer substantially more affordable fares to customers and further stimulate the potential traffic between these key African cities. This can only have a very positive effect on the critical trade, commercial and tourism industries between South Africa and Tanzania,” said Winter.

fastjet Chief Commercial Officer Richard Bodin “fastjet is currently planning a huge sales launch activity that will see it offering its customers never-seen-before fares. We hope to offer early booking passengers fares as low as $100 (one way excluding government taxes and charges) to and from Johannesburg. We have made a commitment to the people of Africa to democratize air travel on the continent and this is another very significant step on that journey.”
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http://www.news24.com/Travel/Flights/fastjet-granted-SA-flight-route-20130614
 
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