In an attempt to speed up its entrance into the South African domestic market, pan-African low cost carrier, fastjet has ditched its original strategy and has opted to team up with a local company in the acquisition of 1time.

1time’s provisional liquidator, Aviwe Ndyamara of Tshwane Trust, said the fastjet executive team had confirmed it had reached an agreement with a credible South African partner to facilitate the financial transaction, resulting in the application to the Department of Transport for an exemption being withdrawn.

Fastjet’s hope to bail out 1time were delayed by the South African Air Services Licensing Act, which states that foreign ownership of a local airline is capped at 25%. Fastjet applied for an exemption from the Minister of Transport, Ben Martins in December last year but has yet to receive a response.

As usual, fastjet remained tight-lipped about the deal, confirming only that it would own up to 25% of 1time should the deal go ahead. A spokesperson for the airline refused to confirm whether or not the South African company was already a player in the aviation industry. She said: “As we have said, we will provide an update on the status of our plans in South Africa as and when is appropriate.”

Ndyamara further explained that fastjet had issued a Letter of Intent to enable the liquidators to negotiate a compromise settlement with 1time’s creditors. “I can’t give out any figures as they are still under negotiation but the compromise offer would mean a better dividend would be received by the body of creditors,” he said. He said it could take up to eight weeks for a compromise offer to be accepted, and were this to happen 1time would be taken out of provisional liquidation. He added that the attorneys were already engaging to strategise on the way forward.

It could still be some time before 1time takes to the skies again as, although its licences were only suspended, the carrier would still need to prove that it can meet the necessary regulatory requirements.

Andries Ntjane, Deputy Director: licensing and permits for the Department of Transport, confirmed the withdrawal of the exemption request but said the Air Services Licensing Council had not received 1time’s new application yet. He explained that once it was official that 1time was seeking to operate flights again it still faced a rigorous process in which the Council and Civil Aviation Authority would look into the proposed new local owners, the management personnel, the aircraft, financials, and so on.

In a statement, fastjet said: “While 1time remains firmly fastjet’s preferred route, the low-cost carrier continues to explore alternative partnerships to launch fastjet in South Africa, which will be available if a satisfactory compromise cannot be negotiated with the 1time creditors.” Fastjet wouldn’t comment any further on the alternative partnerships. Ndyamara said it was “common sense” for fastjet to explore other options, but that there were no other options he was currently aware of.

As for fastjet’s application under the Fly540 name to launch flights from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg, fastjet said: “Although we have, as far as we are aware, complied fully with the regulatory requirements, we are still awaiting permission from the SA government.” However Ntjane explained that the issuing of a foreign operators permit was dependent on the requirements for documentation being met. If there was a delay in issuing the permit, he said it was due to the applicant having outstanding documentation.