fastjet capacity rises 15%; on track for usage target

fastjet (LON:FJET) saw passenger numbers rise strongly in August as capacity on the discount airline’s routes in Africa rose by 15%.

The carrier’s Tanzania-based operation carried a total of 65,500 passengers, nearly double the same time a year ago, with a load factor of 79%.

Month on month capacity rose to 83,000 seats compared to 72,300 in July. Of these, 94% of flights arrived on time. In July, fastjet flew about 52,800 passengers.

Ed Winter, fastjet’s chief executive, said: "I am delighted to see our capacity continue to rise month on month as we maximise the utilisation of resources, particularly aircraft.

“This month’s 15% increase of seats flown has resulted in a 67% improvement in aircraft utilisation since March 2014.

At the end of August, aircraft utilisation reached 9.9 hours per aircraft per day, up from 5.9 hours in March 2014, bringing us closer to reaching our goal of 11.7 hours.

“September will see a further uplift in capacity with the introduction of flights to Entebbe in Uganda."