Fastjet: Operational update

Passenger sales records for June 2013 were £2.2 million, which represents a revenue increase of over 22% against the previous month.

In part, the increases came from the reintroduction of the Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar route but the bulk of the increase in revenues came from a change in the competitive environment in Tanzania, resulting in a 10% rise in load factor* compared to May 2013 (68% to 78%) whilst broadly maintaining a strong average fare.

In June, fastjet's Tanzanian operation carried its 200,000th passenger and the Company expects this figure to grow by at least 28,000 by the end of July.

With the imminent introduction of its flights from Tanzania to South Africa, the airline is confident of reporting further increases in sales.

Ed Winter, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of fastjet, said:

"I am delighted with our continued growth in Tanzania. I think we can justifiably state that we are becoming the airline of choice and are setting the standard by which other airlines should be judged.

"We operate on time, have huge brand awareness and are flying fuller aircraft.

"The introduction of international flights is the next big step in our development and we are all focussed on getting those routes on sale as soon as possible. Having received the required licences, we are now just working with the authorities in South Africa to get the landing slots and other final arrangements in place."

*the average percentage of seats sold on each operating aircraft