eBusiness Weekly
BH24 Reporter
HARARE – Budget airliner Fastjet, which recently launched daily flights between Harare and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, has announced further plans to expand it route network.
Additional routes will be added for Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa.
“Later this year fastjet plans to launch additional routes in both Tanzania and Mozambique with South Africa, as a new market, firmly on our radar,” said fastjet chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout.
Meanwhile, the airline will include the first item of checked luggage as well as a snack and or refreshment in all tickets sold. Previously, fastjet charged all luggage and on-board snacks separately. The move comes following several months of research into market trends and customer expectations with the airline exchanging its BigSaver and Achiever fares for the new-look, value product.
“We have listened to our customers,” says Bezuidenhout, “and redeveloped our product to better match what travellers on our network expect from a value-airline.”
Bezuidenhout confirmed that the new, inclusive fare product will be available on all new routes as well as existing network points from 6 August 2018.
He said fastjet will continue to offer affordable fares for everyone.
“As a pan-African value airline fastjet endeavours to make air travel affordable and accessible in every market we serve. Beyond the redevelopment of our product, fastjet is also presently working on wider distribution and more payment methods, growing our network and making it easier for everyone to do business with us.”
Fastjet recently launched daily flights between Harare and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe, added an additional frequency between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Harare on Wednesdays and introduced double daily flights between Maputo and Beira in Mozambique.
Currently, fastjet’s route network includes Tanzanian domestic routes from its Dar es Salaam base to Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, and Mwanza with international routes to Tanzania from Lusaka in Zambia and Harare in Zimbabwe. Fastjet began branded domestic flights in Mozambique (Operated by Solenta Aviation Mozambique) between Maputo and Beira, Nampula and Tete on 3 November 2017 and celebrated its second year of operations in Zimbabwe in 2017.
The carrier operates between Harare and Bulawayo, Harare and Victoria Falls, from both Harare and Victoria Falls to Johannesburg in South Africa.
The airline has flown over 3.5 million passengers with an impressive aggregate on-time performance, establishing itself as a punctual, reliable, and affordable value airline.
