fastjet signs option to buy South African carrier 1time

FastJet Plc is the holding company for African airline Fly540, which operates from four bases in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Angola. Fly540 currently has 10 aircraft serving around 25 domestic and regional destinations, carrying approximately 750,000 passengers per year with a strong emphasis on safety, security and…

Low cost airline fastjet (LON:FJET) has agreed an option to acquire South African carrier 1time Airline subject to agreement with the failed carrier’s creditors and the South African government.

Talks began last month and fastjet said today that because of their protracted nature, 1time would not resume flights before Christmas but would do so early in the New Year.

The acquisition will give fastjet a base in South Africa and the right to operate in and out of the country to the rest of Africa. It has just started Airbus 319 flights from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania as a first step of its plan to become a pan-African low cost airline.

The acquisition will see it take on up to three of 1time’s fleet of twelve aircraft on new operating lease agreements. The initial routes will all be within South Africa and fly between Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London.

Ed Winter, fastjet’s chief executive, said the flights will initially be operated by aircraft from the 1time fleet but the intention is to replace these with new Airbus A319 aircraft. 1Time will be rebranded as fastjet.

“The acquisition of 1time supports fastjet’s growth into a pan-African low cost carrier and the synergies with fastjet’s existing operations will potentially increase the number of available route networks from South Africa into the rest of Africa,” Winter added.

1Time was based at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and flew 33 flights a day across eight routes including South Africa to Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia.

The airline carried 120,000 passengers a month before its operations were suspended in November 2012.

The consideration for 1time is a nominal R1.