FastJet will skip South Africa domestic flights for now as it focuses on international

Fastjet, the low-cost African airline backed by easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has put its plans for internal South African flights on hold as it launches international routes across the continent.

It said it has been granted permission to fly from Tanzania to South Africa, Zambia and Rwanda, and will soon announce launch dates for flights from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg, Kigali and Lusaka.

Chief executive Ed Winter said: "Bringing the fastjet brand to South Africa is a cornerstone in the creation of our pan-African network. We remain totally committed to launching the fastjet brand in South Africa as soon as possible but, given all the time and effort the team has invested over the past months to secure our international route designations, we have taken the sensible decision to prioritise setting up these lucrative and high-profile routes first, before turning our attention to launch the fastjet brand on domestic routes in South Africa."

Fastjet also said it had signed a new three-year equity financing agreement for up to pounds sterling 15 million with Darwin, a subsidiary of Henderson Global Investors Volantis Capital, after having drawn pounds sterling 1.13 million from its existing facility.

The airline said yesterday that it had agreed to create a low-cost carrier operating in Nigeria and across Africa with Nigeria's Red 1 Airways.

(c)2013 London Evening Standard. Distributed by MCT Information Services