fastjet to start additional flights after strong demand

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 reliability.

Fastjet (LON:FJET) has seen strong demand for its low cost flights in Africa with over 18,000 tickets sold already and extra flights to start from tomorrow.

All traffic to date has been on the initial Dar es Salaam to Mwanza and Kilimanjaro routes, which will also be the destinations of the additional flights.

The airline made in its inaugural flight last week and so far has carried 6,884 passengers at an average load factor of 85.4%. Bookings have been received as far ahead as next March, it added.

Ed Winter, Fastjet’s chief executive said: “A great deal of hard work has gone in from the Fastjet team, Tanzanian government, agents, contractors and suppliers to make this launch such a success.

“We are looking forward to having all 3 initial Airbus A319s fully operational over the coming weeks so that we can adequately cater for the expected holiday surge.”

The airline also today announced it is to raise a further £2mln at 3p per share through a placing with an unnamed institutional investor and has used another £514,000 from its drawdown facility with Darwin Strategic at a price of 3.6p.

Earlier this week, Fastjet confirmed it was in talks to buy South African airline 1time and that talks were underway with Emirates, the world’s largest airline by traffic, over a possible partnership.

Broker Daniel Stewart reiterated its view that the company should show a healthy profit in 2013 if it can hit its target of having more than 10 A319 aircraft in operation, and it is able to achieve a load factor rate of between 70% and 75%.

“This would imply the stock is currently trading on an attractive multiple in our view,” said Daniel Stewart’s Michael Campbell.