Low-cost easyJet spin-off to launch in Africa
15th June 2012
Fastjet is set to launch in Africa following a deal between the owner of existing carrier, Fly540 and British-owned investment firm, Rubicon
EasyJet's founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou will launch a low-cost airline in Africa this year. Fastjet, as it will be known, will operate from Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Angola.
A deal was announced on Wednesday that will see Haji-Ioannou receive a 5% share in the venture, which is underpinned by Rubicon, a British investment firm he's part of. The company has bought the aviation arm of Lonrho and will expand its existing African carrier Fly540 before relaunching it under the Fastjet brand.
The aim is to carry more than 12 million passengers a year, a large leap from the current 500,000, which is thought possible because of demand from the African middle-class for regional travel.
“Africa has a rapidly growing middle class with GDP growth fuelled by oil discoveries. It has few good roads or railways and cheap air travel is a real alternative,” said Ed Winter, the chief executive of Rubicon and former easyJet chief operating officer. “It is the optimum time to launch because Africa is hugely under-served from an aviation perspective. It is the last frontier for aviation.”
Fares are expected to average between $70-$80 (£45-£51) on flights between fast-growing cities such as Nairobi in Kenya and Angola's Luanda. Richard Boden, another former easyJet director who will join Fastjet, said the plan is to target the West African market. “There is a significant shortage of direct point-to-point flying within the Continent, particularly with West Africa. It is very difficult to get from capital city to capital city.”
Fastjet does not plan to infringe on easyJet's European territory and will launch later this summer.
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