Fastjet's first A319 arrives in Tanzania ahead of next week's launch

Fastjet's first branded Airbus A319 has arrived at its base in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, ahead of flight operations scheduled for next week.

Full approval to operate the aircraft has been granted to fastjet by the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA).

Two more fastjet-branded A319s are planned to be en route early next week, to be in Dar es Salaam in time for the airline’s first flight, scheduled for Thursday (Nov 29) 29th The team of 35 pilots, 65 cabin crew and 7 maintenance specialists are already on the ground actively preparing for launch.

In a little over a week since tickets went on sale, fastjet said it has already taken over 8000 bookings on the first two routes; enough to fill over 60 A319s. The fastjet.com web site received over 20,000 hits in its first 4 days and the mobile site is now live.

Commenting on the significant progress, fastjet chairman David Lenigas said: “As expected, plans for fastjet’s official launch of operations are moving ahead right on schedule and we are delighted with the level of interest so far. Demand for seats is high and we are in great shape to start flying next week. We are delighted to have such a solid foundation to build upon.”

The fledgling airline has also secured its finance having formally entered into the £5 million Equity Financing Facility ("EFF") with Darwin Strategic Limited, the majority owned subsidiary of Henderson Global Investors' Alphagen Volantis fund.

The EFF covers a three year period.