African budget airline Fastjet takes off on international flights
Fastjet, the new budget African airline backed by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, announced the launch of its international flight operations yesterday.
The carrier’s first international flight, from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to Johannesburg, will depart on Friday as the start of a thrice-weekly service which, Fastjet said, will “increase in frequency as soon as consumer demand dictates”.
Fastjet’s chief executive, Ed Winter, said: “The South African Department of Transport has … issued an updated foreign operator permit.
“Fastjet is delighted that, in line with our expansion strategy, operations can now commence on this route.
“Until now, flying between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg has been prohibitively expensive for many people,” he added.
Sir Stelios, who founded low-cost carrier easyJet in 1995, has a 6 per cent stake in Fastjet.
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