In a few weeks time FastJet should be flying a leased Airbus A319 between Dar
es Salaam and Nairobi. FastJet, who are listed on the London Stock Exchange, are part of a group that flies
4 million people a year. Their experience in Europe and Asia shows that the licensing of low cost carriers increases
the number of flyers. They won’t be here to compete with Kenya Airways (KQ) or
Precision Air, which is Tanzania’s dominant air carrier, but their target is people who take buses between Nairobi
and Dar Es Salaam (or Nairobi and
Mombasa) and they will be offering fares that start as low as $20 before taxes
and are ambitious to roll out the model across other African countries
New look FastJet |
A current search on the local TravelStart site shows that one way flights between Dar and Nairobi attract taxes of between $90 and $110 - so there's no feasible way passengers will be paying anything less than $120 per flight - and high airport taxes are the norm in many African countries. Not all seats on the plane will costs $20 (Kshs 1,700) – and
they will be sold in increasing blocks as the flight gets fuller and the dates
closer, such that those who choose to pay last minute will pay almost a full
fare.
Fly540 will still be around |
Fly540
itself should still be around flying, on routes that the A319’s can't fly to, and the next bases for Fastjet as the lease more A319's are likely to be Nairobi, Accra, and Luanda.
Also licensed in the same week was JamboJet, a planned low cost
carrier from Kenya Airways. A few years
ago, KQ ran an airline called Flamingo Air, but it was not really a low cost –
not in terns of fares or level of
service which were comparable to other domestic Kenya Airways flights.
Do African passengers really understand what low costs flights mean? That there will
be no food or drink unless you pay? That you will be charged extra for your bags? Or
that you may be asked to clean your seat? That has to come out clearly in the
marketing of these tickets to sensitize
flyers on the type of service to expect.
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