Articles tagged “fastjet”

South Africa is understandably cautious as it approaches winter, and doing all it can to stave off a health crisis. But its strict and prolonged protocols might end up doing more harm than good.

Given the constant drip of bad news coming out of Fastjet since it launched in 2012, it's amazing that the airline is still flying.

It looks like the end is nigh for beleaguered Fastjet. Unless investors are willing to put up more cash for an airline that shows no sign of profitability six years after launching.

Are cheap fares enough to tempt Africa’s vast "unflown" market to swop a bus for an Airbus? It’s certainly not easy making the numbers work in African aviation, but a handful of low-cost carriers are showing that a bit of creative thinking makes all the difference.

While some of fastjet's wounds have been self-inflicted, it hasn't been helped by problems in key markets. The radical turnaround plans initiated by the new CEO seem like the last throw of the dice.

Sometimes travel companies, including airlines, have to make hard choices, and FastJet sees longer-haul flights across Africa as its first priority. The plan is to get to domestic South Africa flights at a later juncture.

Despite early setbacks in South Africa, FastJet is adapting quickly to ensure it continues the expansion throughout Africa that it promised when it launched last fall.

Africa is full of near-bankrupt and poorly managed state airlines, making acquisitions a quick and cost efficient way for upstarts like FastJet to build its fleet and expand routes early on.

FastJet has the smarts of easyJet players behind the scenes, but it will need to watch out for the machinations of its East African competitors who enjoy higher fares and less-reliable service.

Fastjet has a distance to go from flying between two Tanzanian cities to becoming a pan-African airline, but could become a leader with little competition if service proves to be reliable and safe from the start.