Fastjet sees strong demand and revenues in December 2013

Africa-focused no frills airline Fastjet (LON:FJET) flew a record number of passengers from its Tanzanian hub last month with revenues also up strongly.

Ed Winter, the airline’s chief executive, said its established routes had performed better than expected over Christmas while “yield and total revenue figures for the month were excellent”.

The airline carried just 37,400 passengers in Tanzania in December, the highest monthly total since Fastjet started operations. The load factor, or how full the flights were, was 71%.

Fastjet also saw a near doubling of revenues from December’s flights with the average yield per passenger at US$97, against US$50 a year ago.

Total revenue for the month was US$3.6mln, which was the first time it has topped US$3 mln since Fastjet’s operations started.

A move to daily flights between Dar es Salaam and Mbeya on 16 December helped the figures with an average load factor of 68% for the full month.

Fastjet also operates international flights between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg, with tickets now also on sale for flights to Lusaka, Zambia’s capital and its second international destination. Flights to and from Lusaka begin in February.

The passenger numbers carried by the legacy 540 businesses fell slightly year on year.

Winter added that the strong performance of the Dar es Salaam to Mbeya route showed how well the low cost model can work in Africa.

“Our low fares have stimulated the market and provided a real option for the huge, pent-up demand on this route.

“Based on our achievements in 2013, as we enter 2014 I am very optimistic about the prospect of Fastjet rolling out the low cost model on many more routes.“