A fourth international destination out of Dar es Salaam will launch today, when one of Africa’s low-cost carriers makes its maiden flight to Entebbe in Uganda.
After Johannesburg, Lusaka and Harare are flights to Entebbe of particular importance, as the double-daily nonstop flights by Air Uganda came to an abrupt halt on June 17 when the Ugandan regulators pulled all air operator certificates for international flights to escape ICAO’s citation for significant safety concerns. Ever since, travelers have been forced to fly between the two airports via third countries at considerably greater expense and having to suffer much longer journey times.
Fastjet will for the first two weeks fly twice a week before upping flights on September 29 to four per week, which in terms of seats, though not in terms of departures, almost restores the status quo pre-June 17.
Demand for tickets is reportedly strong already as the cost of flying is almost equivalent to the cost of a bus ticket, as long as the lowest fares can be secured by early bookings. The airline is targeting the VFR market as well as aiming to capture business traffic, in particular individuals for whom cost and time are of the essence.
Fastjet presently operates a fleet of three Airbus A319 aircraft in an all economy configuration. The airline is at an advanced stage to establish an operation in Zambia with the main hub in Lusaka and has applied to the Kenyan aviation authorities for a license to set up an operation in East Africa’s largest market for air travel.
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