The Tanzania-based low-cost airline, Fastjet has announced a new domestic route between Mwanza and Kilimanjaro.
The airline said last week that it will fly four times a week by using its Airbus A319 aircraft.
The airline currently flies from four international airports in Tanzania, covering routes between Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Kilimanjaro and Mbeya.
The low cost air carrier also flies internationally, from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg, Lusaka, Harare, and Entebbe.
According to the latest passenger statistics of January 2015 Fastjet carried a total of 55,695 passengers in Tanzania and achieved a cargo factor of 69%.
This represents a 78% increase in the number of passengers carried and a 9% increase in cargo factor compared with the same December 2014.
Additional Fastjet growth is expected with plans to expand its fleet from three to thirteen A319’s by the end of 2015 and further growth in 2016.
The fact sheet further indicates that 2017 will see the fleet expand again to 24 aircraft following the expansion of new affiliates in Zambia, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.
The airline was named the cheapest low-cost carrier (LCC) in Africa and the fifth cheapest LCC worldwide in a recent survey by flight comparison site, WhichAirline.com
Fastjet is being funded by London-based investment firm Rubicon with backing from EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s EasyGroup.
The African carrier started her novel domestic route on March 30, 2015, operating four times a week between Kilimanjaro – Mwanza service.
In February, Fastjet reached the milestone of flying one million passengers in two years.
Locally, it covers routes between Julius Nyerere International Airport and Mwanza, Entebbe, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya and Zanzibar. International routes include Lusaka, Zambia and Johannesburg in South Africa.
According to Fastjet’s Interim Results for the six months ending June 2014, the airlines numbers are on the rise with first half revenues growing by 06% to $19 million after recording a 41.5% increase in the passengers flown.