Although fastjet, the first pan-African low-cost carrier which launched at the end of November, is keeping mum about its plans to expand into the rest of Africa, speculation is that it won’t be long before the brainchild of easyJet founder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s, is spotted in Southern Africa’s skies.

A spokesperson for the airline told Tourism Update: “Fastjet is continually looking at ways in which it can grow its African business, whether organically or through acquisition. At any particular time we may be studying several opportunities but as a matter of policy we will not make any comment until it is appropriate to do so.”
On its website, fastjet indicates that flights to Angola and Ghana are envisaged. Chris Zweigenthal, Aasa CEO, says: “It is not clear whether they will operate to South Africa as yet, though I would not exclude that possibility. This would put them in direct competition with SAA and Kenya Airways.”

“The existing airlines operating on the major routes are providing capacity to satisfy demand and fastjet operations in the region will introduce additional competition, which is in the interest of the customers and place pressure on the operating margins of the established airlines,” says Zweigenthal. He adds that there is demand for operations between new city pairs, and the opening of new markets not currently served will be welcomed.
Fastjet’s new website went live on November 14, selling tickets for its domestic routes in Tanzania, including Dar es Salaam-Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam-Mwanza. According to the website, Zanzibar, Entebbe, Mombasa and Nairobi are all destinations that are “coming soon”. 
In a statement, fastjet Executive Chairman, David Lenigas, says: “The fastjet launch in Tanzania will be the start of what the company believes will be a truly great pan-African low-cost airline. Over time we plan to have fastjet flying the continent of Africa, from north to south and east to west.”
According to Zweigenthal, low-cost carriers operating in the regional market have not really been tested yet. “I believe there is potential for them to be successful. However they will need to offer low competitive fares to become a carrier of choice without the service offering of full-service airlines.”
Local LCC, Mango could soon be testing the regional market. Spokesperson, Hein Kaiser, says Mango is actively researching and developing plans to operate regionally, with a specific interest in the east African seaboard. “Should fastjet compete on a route that Mango operates, or intends to operate, we would consider them a competitor.”
Zweigenthal says if fastjet operates on well-traded city pairs, it will provide competition for established carriers flying these routes but he hopes the airline will have a positive impact on the African aviation sector by opening up new markets through new city pair combinations as opposed to operating only in the current well-established markets.