Fastjet chairman reveals airline’s comeback plan
What you need to know:
- Mr Lawrence Masha, who recently became the low cost airline’s majority shareholder apologized to its customer during a radio interview
- He outlined various measures, which the airline is talking to revive the troubled carrier company, which include leasing of new the Boeing 737-500 plane will see the carrier resume the Dar es Salaam-Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam-Nairobi routes.
Dar es Salaam. Troubled budget airline Fastjet Tanzania has laid out a turnaround plan just a few days after it was forced off the skies over a mounting debt and a myriad other problems.
Fastjet Tanzania chairman Lawrence Masha told Clouds TV yesterday that as part of a plan to take-off again, the financially-strapped carrier would acquire five new leased planes, one of which is expected this Saturday. The low-fare airline is racing against time to beat a 28-day deadline issued by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) for it to put its act together or be slapped with licence cancellation, a move that could seal its fate following months of a major financial turbulence.
“After delivering the first plane on Saturday, we expect two more Boeing 737-500 planes to increase our fleet as well as resolve the flight cancellation challenge,” Mr Masha, a former Home Affairs minister, said during the local TV station’s 360 programme.
“All our acquired planes will be registered in Tanzania. As demand is likely to grow, we expect to acquire one or two more Bombadier planes.”
He expressed optimism that the underfire airline would resume both domestic and international flights.
He said the arrival of the Boeing 737-500 plane will see the carrier resume the Dar es Salaam-Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam-Nairobi route.
Mr Masha said the airline was also wooing potential “strategic investors” from South Africa, China, Malaysia and India who had shown interest in investing in Fastjet Tanzania.
“I am sure that we are going to regain our 45 per cent market share of Tanzania’s air transport; we are not competing with any local airline. They are all partners because we have been cooperating well with them during crises, such as when we faced flight cancellations,” he said.
The former cabinet minister, who became the airline’s first executive chairman last month, said the carrier had already fulfilled some regulatory requirements by TCAA. He also said the airline was making efforts to pay service providers, and settle debts owed to the regulator with support from Fastjet Plc. “We are making efforts to speak to authorities to allow us to start selling tickets,” he said.
Mr Masha upped his stake in Fastjet Tanzania last month, from four per cent to 68 per cent after he bought 47 per cent of the company’s shares owned by local investors and 17 per cent owned by Fastjet Plc, becoming the majority shareholder and owner of the unit.
