Despite suggestions this time last year that Kenya Airways was going cold on the idea of launching a new low-cost airline subsidiary in the East African market after delays with the development of the business, JamboJet finally took to the air at the start of this month, initially operating two Boeing 737-300s on three domestic routes from the country’s largest airport, Jomo Kenyatta International in Nairobi.

The start-up inaugurated operations on the morning of April 1, 2014 initially offering up to six daily rotations between Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa, a double daily link between the capital and Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria and a ten times weekly service between Nairobi and Eldoret, one of the fastest growing towns in the country, including double daily offering on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Kenya Airways has been in the process of establishing the low-cost carrier subsidiary for some time. It was initially thought that JamboJet could launch operations with some of Kenya Airways’ Embraer E-Jets on domestic and regional flights from Nairobi, but with those regional jets right-sizing capacity in a number of scheduled markets for the SkyTeam alliance member, it has instead launched with a pair of its parent’s older Boeing 737-300s, which have been painted in separate giraffe and zebra liveries.

“We're here to democratize air transport. If this concept works in Kenya, we want to take it to neighboring countries, we want to take it all over Africa.”

Ayisi Makatiani
Chairman, JamboJet

Although it is initially serving the domestic market, JamboJet has ambitions to fly outside of Kenya and has already earmarked the destinations of Bujumbura, Kigali, Dar-es-Salaam, Mwanza, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro and Addis Ababa for the first stage of its international growth. Other regional destinations such as Juba, Entebbe, Goma, Hargeisa ,Kisangani and as far afield as Antananarivo are thought to also be on the carrier’s radar.

At a special inauguration event ahead of the carrier's formal launch of scheduled flights, Ayisi Makatiani, chairman, JamboJet suggested that the whole of Africa could be on the airline's radar. "We're here to democratize air transport. If this concept works in Kenya, we want to take it to neighboring countries, we want to take it all over Africa," he said.

According to data from OAG Schedules Analyser, the three JamboJet launch routes are the busiest domestic services from Nairobi, accounting for 92.9 per cent of the domestic capacity last year from Nairobi (Mombasa: 57.2 per cent; Kisumu: 23.4 per cent and Eldoret: 12.3 per cent) and 70.5 per cent of the country’s total domestic capacity (Nairobi – Mombasa: 42.7 per cent; Nairobi – Kisumu: 17.9 per cent; Nairobi –Eldoret: 9.9 per cent).

This month’s schedule information shows that JamboJet will operate alongside the Embraer E190 flights of its parent Kenya Airways and Bombardier CRJ200 services of Fly 540 on the Nairobi – Mombasa route. According to MIDT data an estimated 504,000 bi-directional O&D passengers travelled on this popular domestic routing in 2013, and JamboJet believes its low fares will help its stimulate the market further, especially supporting the strong leisure demand.

Mombasa is the second largest city in the country, and possibly the oldest. It is located on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast and home to one of Africa’s most important international ports, Kilindini Harbour. A regional cultural and economic hub, Mombasa is also the centre of coastal tourism in Kenya thanks to the beaches of Nyali, Bamburi and Shanzu along its north coast and Shelly, Tiwi and Diani along its south coast.

Likewise, JamboJet will also operate alongside the existing E-Jet flights of Kenya Airways and CRJ200 link of Fly 540 between Nairobi and Kisumu, a market of approximately 204,000 O&D passengers in 2013. Located in Western Kenya, on the shores of Lake Victoria, Kisumu is the third largest city in Kenya. Kisumu literally means a place of barter trade ’sumo and this has helped this port city develop as one of Kenya’s key trade links with Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kisumu is also famous for its highly fertile land and economically thrives from the produce of sugar and rice.

The Nairobi – Eldoret service sees JamboJet replace the previous operation of its parent, but will still see it compete directly with Fly 540, which uses a Bombardier Dash 8 on this route from the capital city. An estimated 80,000 bi-directional O&D passengers flew in this market in 2013, up 7.3 per cent on the previous year.

Eldoret is the capital and largest town in Uasin Gishu County located just south of the Cherangani Hills in western Kenya. It is also one of the fastest growing towns in the country. The name ‘Eldoret’ is based on the Maasai word ‘eldore’ meaning ‘stony river’ because the bed of the nearby Sosiani Riveris very stony. The white settlers decided to call it Eldoret to make it easier for them to pronounce it.

The area bursts with rich culture and Moi University, Eldoret Polytechnic and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital have made the town a centre of educational excellence. It is also the home of numerous legendary Kenyan runners and is the location of the International Association of Athletes Federations (IAAF’s) High Altitude Training Centre.