Low-cost airlines start to penetrate African international market, led by fastjet

Low-cost carriers are starting to slowly - very slowly - penetrate Africa's regional international market. LCCs currently only account for about 0.2% of international capacity within Africa, making it one of the last frontiers for the global LCC sector.

Tanzania-based LCC start-up fastjet finally launched services from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg on 18-Oct-2013, completing a tedious delay-ridden process. It is the first of several planned international routes for fastjet from Tanzania and other potential new bases throughout Africa.

Incredibly there are currently only five international routes within Africa operated by LCCs. The opportunities for LCCs to penetrate the intra-Africa market are huge but so are the challenges.