Fastjet draws down funds as tickets for Tanzania/S.Africa route go on sale

Low-cost African airline fastjet (LON:FJET) has drawn down £660,000 from its equity financing facility with Darwin Strategic.

In return for the funds, fastjet issued to Darwin 66mln shares, raising the number of shares in issue to 3,052mln ordinary shares.

The announcement of the financing coincides with a significant milestone for the company, namely tickets going on sale for fastjet’s first international route, between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Johannesburg in South Africa.

Facebook users who have “friended” fastjet get first crack at the tickets on 31 July, while the rest of the world will have to wait until 1 August to book seats on what is expected to prove a popular route.

“We expect our lower fares to stimulate a huge increase in the numbers of passengers travelling on this route, as has been the case on our domestic routes in Tanzania,” said fastjet chief executive officer, Ed Winter, earlier this week.