Fastjet

For military fast jets, see supersonic aircraft.

Fastjet

IATA ICAO Call sign FN FTZ GREYBIRD
Founded	2011
Commenced operations	29 November 2012
Hubs	Dar es Salaam Airport
Fleet size	3
Destinations	5
Headquarters	Suite 2C, First Point, Buckingham Gate, Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom
Key people	Ed Winter (CEO and Executive Chairman) Angus Saunders (CFO) Stelios Haji-Ioannou (co-founder)
Website	fastjet.com

Fastjet Plc is a low-cost airline with ambitions to provide a pan-African service. Fastjet aims to deliver the same service as its European low-cost counterparts to the African continent. The airline was initially created with the acquisition of Fly540, an airline operating in East Africa, and flights in Fastjet's own name commenced in November 2012.

Fastjet had been in negotiations to acquire the assets of failed 1time Airline, but those talks were put on hold. Fastjet had entered into a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with JetLink Express, but that, too, was put on hold.

History

Initial proposals

While originally thought to be competing with easyJet, it was later claimed by The Daily Telegraph that Fastjet is planned to be a transatlantic long-haul airline.

It was eventually revealed that Fastjet was a proposed low-cost African airline, and that an agreement had been signed with Rubicon Investments.

By June 2012 the plans had become clearer. To start the operations, Rubicon Diversified Investments Plc (later renamed Fastjet Plc) completed the acquisition of Lonrho's airline division for a transaction value of US$85.7m, satisfied by the issue of Rubicon ordinary shares to Lonrho. Key shareholders in the enlarged company would be Lonrho and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, through his easyGroup Holdings Limited (“easyGroup”). The airline division acquired included the African regional airline Fly 540, operating in Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, which would form the platform for the development of a low cost carrier for Africa, branded ‘Fastjet’ under the terms of the easyGroup brand licence agreement.

Commencement of operations

The airline chose Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as its first operating base in Africa, with flights from Julius Nyerere International Airport commencing on 29 November 2012. Currently (January 2013) flights operate successfully between Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro, and between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza. Further routes were to be added quickly, both domestically and to other East African destinations, and FastJet said it would move its operation office from Tanzania to Kenya, once it has approval to operate in Kenya. Once established in East Africa, FastJet also had plans to launch in Ghana and Angola, other Fly540 areas of operation, but all these expansion plans appear to have become embroiled in a public dispute between Fastjet and the original Fly540 management regarding outstanding debts and validity of operating licences.

Corporate affairs

Ownership

Fastjet (FJET:LSE) is traded on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Current disclosable interests (of 3% or more) in ordinary shares (as at April 2014) are:

Shareholder	Shares	Interest
George Prokas	28,000,000	05.47%
Other investors	586,587,478	94.53%
Total	614,587,478	100.00%

After their initial involvement, Lonrho Plc disposed of their shares in Fastjet, concluding the process on 14 November 2013. EasyGroup retains its stake in the company, although because of fundraising share issues this fell below the notifiable 3% shareholding on 3 December 2013; Easygroup are included in those currently (April 2014) in talks with Fastjet regarding long term investment.

Business trends

Fastjet only began trading under its own name on 29 November 2012, and financial results for 2011 are not relevant as the Fly540 business was not acquired until 29 June 2012; financial results below are for Fastjet for the 18 month period ended 31 December 2012. The company and group report in US Dollars.

Because Fastjet continues to run operations in various countries as Fly540, for comparative purposes the table below shows separate operational figures for the original businesses and for the new Fastjet activities (as at year ending 31 December):

	2011	2012	2013
Turnover (US$ m)	n/a	21.1
Profits/Losses after tax (US$ m)	n/a	−55.9
Number of employees (average)	8	371
Fastjet operations
Number of passengers (m)	0	0.03	0.37
Passenger load factor (%)	-	78.9*
Number of aircraft (at year end)	0	3	3
Fly540 operations
Number of passengers (m)	0.45	0.67	0.62
Passenger load factor (%)	62.0*	n/a
Number of aircraft (at year end)		4
All operations
Number of passengers (m)	0.45	0.70	0.99
Passenger load factor (%)	62.0*	71.8*
Number of aircraft (at year end)		7
Notes/sources	*Dec only	*Dec only

Head office

Fastjet Plc has its registered office and head office at Suite 2C in First Point on the grounds of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.

The airline also maintains a head office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Destinations

As of February 2014, Fastjet serves the following destinations:

	Base
	Future
	Terminated route

Cargo

Fastjet has signed an agreement with one of Africa’s largest cargo operators, BidAir Cargo, to carry cargo on its fleet of Airbus A319s. Fastjet has sufficient capacity to accommodate the carrying of cargo on its Tanzanian routes

Fleet

The Fastjet fleet includes the following aircraft as of December 2012:

Fastjet fleet

Aircraft	Total	Orders	Options	Passengers	Notes
Airbus A319-100	1	0	0	156	ex-Easyjet aircraft
	2	0	0	145
Total	3	0	0

There are plans for further A319s to be acquired as the network expands. The aircraft above are those flying under the Fastjet brand; the Fly540 fleet is shown separately.

External links

• Official website (Mobile)