Fastjet
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| Founded | 2011 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 29 November 2012 | ||||||
| AOC # | 038 | ||||||
| Hubs | Julius Nyerere International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | 9 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Gatwick Airport, UK | ||||||
| Key people | Clive Carver (Chairman) Ed Winter (CEO) Krista Bates (GC) Richard Bodin (COO) Nick Caine (CFO) | ||||||
| Website | fastjet | ||||||
Fastjet Plc is a low-cost airline aimed to provide a pan-African service. 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.[1] Fastjet had been in negotiations to acquire the assets of failed 1time Airline, but those talks were put on hold.[2] Fastjet had entered into a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with JetLink Express, but that, too, was put on hold.[3]
History
Initial proposals
While originally thought to be competing with easyJet,[4] it was later claimed by The Daily Telegraph that Fastjet was planned to be a transatlantic long-haul airline.[5]
It was eventually revealed that Fastjet was a proposed low-cost African airline, and that an agreement had been signed with Rubicon Investments.[6]
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,[7] and FastJet said it would move its operation office from Tanzania to Kenya, once it has approval to operate in Kenya.[8] 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.[9] In May 2014 Fly540 Ghana and Fly540 Angola were both shut down as they were incompatible with the Fastjet low cost model.[10][11]
Corporate affairs
Ownership
Fastjet (FJET:LSE) is traded on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market (AIM). After their initial involvement, Lonrho Plc disposed of their shares in Fastjet by 14 November 2013.[12] EasyGroup retains a major stake in the company, holding over 9% of shares. In April 2014 Fastjet completed a successful $25 million Open Offer.[13]
Current disclosable interests (of 3% or more) in ordinary shares (as at March 2015)[14] were:
| Shareholder | Shares | Interest |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Life Investments | 98,844,580 | 6.0% |
| EasyGroup Holdings Ltd | 94,287,227 | 5.8% |
| EasyGroup IP Licencing Ltd | 62,500,000 | 3.8% |
| Majedie Asset Management | 62,500,000 | 3.8% |
| George Prokas | 59,250,000 | 3.6% |
| City Financial | 50,000,000 | 3.0% |
| Other investors | 1,214,827,889 | 74.0% |
| Total | 1,642,209,696 | 100.0% |
Business trends
Fastjet began trading under its own name on 29 November 2012, and financial results for 2011 are not relevant as the Fly540 business was not acquired until 29 June 2012; financial results below for 2012 for Fastjet were for the 18-month period ended 31 December 2012. The company and group report in US Dollars.
Because Fastjet ran operations in various countries as Fly540, for comparative purposes the table below shows separate operational figures for the original businesses and for the new Fastjet activities (as at year ending 31 December):
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnover (US$ m) | n/a | 21.1 | 53.4 | 53.8 | |
| Profits/losses after tax (US$ m) | n/a | −55.9 | −80.9 | −72.1 | |
| Number of employees (average) | 8 | 371 | 436 | 271 | |
| Fastjet operations | |||||
| Number of passengers (m) | 0 | 0.03 | 0.37 | 0.60 | |
| Passenger load factor (%) | - | 78.9* | 72 | 73 | |
| Number of aircraft (at year end) | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| Fly540 operations | |||||
| Number of passengers (m) | 0.45 | 0.67 | 0.62 | n/a | |
| Passenger load factor (%) | 62.0* | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| Number of aircraft (at year end) | 4 | n/a | n/a | ||
| All operations | |||||
| Number of passengers (m) | 0.45 | 0.70 | 0.99 | 0.60 | |
| Passenger load factor (%) | 62.0* | 71.8* | 72.0 | 73.0 | |
| Number of aircraft (at year end) | 7 | 3 | |||
| Notes/sources | *Dec only [15] |
*Dec only [15] |
[16] | [17] | |
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.[18]
The airline also maintains a head office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.[19][20]
Destinations
As of July 2015, Fastjet serves the following destinations:[21]
| Base | |
| Future | |
| Suspended route |
| City | Country | IATA | ICAO | Airport |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arusha and Moshi |  Tanzania |
JRO | HTKJ | Kilimanjaro International Airport |
| Dar es Salaam | Tanzania |
DAR | HTDA | Julius Nyerere International Airport [Base] |
| Entebbe |  Uganda |
EBB | HUEN | Entebbe International Airport |
| Harare |  Zimbabwe |
HRE | FVHA | Harare International Airport |
| Johannesburg |  South Africa |
JNB | FAOR | OR Tambo International Airport |
| Lilongwe |  Malawi |
LLW | FWKI | Lilongwe International Airport |
| Lusaka |  Zambia |
LUN | FLKK | Kenneth Kaunda International Airport |
| Mbeya | Tanzania |
MBI | HTMB | Songwe Airport |
| Mwanza | Tanzania |
MWZ | HTMW | Mwanza Airport |
| Zanzibar City | Tanzania |
ZNZ | HTZA | Abeid Amani Karume International Airport[22] |
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 [23]
Fleet
The Fastjet fleet includes the following aircraft as of September 2015:[24][25]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Options | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 156 | ex-Easyjet aircraft |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 145 | ||
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 144 | [26] | |
| Total | 4 | 2 | 0 |
The airline plans to grow its fleet to as many as 34 aircraft by 2018 as it expands across Africa.
References
- ^ Start of flight operations (in German)
- ^ "Cheap International Flights For Africa? Fastjet Gains Rights To Offer Flights From Tanzania", International Business Times, 15 June 2013
- ^ "fastjet settles Fly540 Kenya issues as Jetlink Express goes it alone", ch-aviation, 13 June 2013
- ^ Fastjet could leave EasyJet feeling queasy, Financial Times, 2011-09-28
- ^ Stelios's Fastjet to take on long-haul market. The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ EasyGroup and Rubicon to study Africa airline. Af.reuters.com (5 December 2011).
- ^ Fastjet tickets go on sale. Easy.com (13 November 2012).
- ^ FastJet shifts focus to East Africa market with Nairobi hub . businessdailyafrica.com (29 November 2012).
- ^ "Stock Exchange announcement". 6 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ "Fly 540 to cease operations in Ghana". citifonline. 16 May 2014.
- ^ "Restructuring of Fly540 Angola and Ghana". Fastjet plc. 29 April 2014.
- ^ "Lonrho departs fastjet's share register". Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ^ "EasyJet Founder Gets 10% Stake as FastJet is Raising $25 Million in Funding". Skift. 13 April 2014.
- ^ "Fastjet - Shareholders". Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Fastjet passenger statistics". Easygroup. Retrieved 2 April 2013. Cite error: The named reference "Fastjet passenger statistics" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2013". Fastjet. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
- ^ "Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2014" (PDF). Fastjet. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
- ^ "Investor Contacts." (Archive) Fastjet. Retrieved on 7 May 2013. "Registered Office and Head Office fastjet Plc Suite 2C First Point Buckingham Gate Gatwick Airport RH6 0NT"
- ^ "Contact fastjet." (Archive) Fastjet. Retrieved on 7 May 2013. "fastjet Tanzania Plot No 767/39, Suite No. 1 Samora Avenue Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 38639 Upanga"
- ^ "Feedback." (Archive) Fastjet. Retrieved on 7 May 2013. "fastjet Head Office Plot No 767/39, Suite No. 1 Samora Avenue P.O. Box 38639 Upanga Dar es Salaam Tanzania"
- ^ "Fastjet Destinations". Fastjet. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ^ "FastJet Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar Canceled for Low Season". Trip Advisor. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
- ^ "South African upgrades, Fastjet turns to cargo". aircargoworld.com. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- ^ "Our fleet". Fastjet.com. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ "Fastjet set to buy first plane and double fleet". Proactive Investors. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ Martin, Ben (25 August 2015). "Fastjet fleet plans take-off after buying its first plane". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 August 2015.