Fastjet's launch of international route delayed by administrative snag
26-Sep-2013 Low-cost African airline fastjet (LON:FJET) said external administrative issues have delayed the launch of its long-awaited service between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg.
The company said that the South African Department of Transport had requested additional documentation very late in the licensing and regulatory process.
The documentation has now been delivered but will take a number of days to process.
The company had been set to start scheduled flights on Friday, 27 September. The delayed launch of this route is not expected to have any material effect on the financial performance of fastjet Tanzania, the company revealed.
"This postponement is very disappointing. Unfortunately, however, administrative delays of this nature are not unusual in the markets in which we operate," said fastjet chief executive, Ed Winter.
"Having complied with all the requests made of us and secured all the necessary licences and permits in an extremely diligent and timely fashion, fastjet was led to believe that we were fully on-track to launch this route on the 27th September," Winter continued.
The company apologised to those customers inconvenienced by the postponement of the start of the service and will issue full refunds, on top of which, customers who have had their flights cancelled will be given assistance booking a complimentary seat to fly within the next month.
"Launching flights on this route remains a key priority, and fastjet is confident it will be operating this service by mid-October, starting a new era of choice for passengers who continue to suffer inflated prices on flights between two of Africa's largest and fastest growing cities," Winter said.