Fastjet has added a direct flight route between Dar Es Salaam and Zimbabwe capital city Harare, making Fastjet the first airline in Africa to operate a direct route between these two cities.
The flight route begins August 5, 2014 and will be offered twice per week – Tuesday and Saturday evenings (with the possibility of increasing the schedule in line with consumer demand).
The flight is approximately 2.5 hours long and a return ticket costs 80 Tsh (significantly cheaper than the other non-direct flights operated by other airlines between those cities).
Commenting on the launch, Fastjet Interim Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Ed Winter said, “We are delighted to be launching our third international route to Harare. The people of Tanzania and Zimbabwe are crying out for a direct air link between the two countries and today’s news moves us one step closer to becoming the continent’s first truly pan-African carrier. When we began low cost operations 18 months ago, we promised the people of Africa that we would democratise air travel across the continent and we are well on our way to achieving that. We now look forward to offering Fastjet’s service of affordable, high-quality air travel to the people of Zimbabwe.
Last week Fastjet was placed 5th in a league of the world’s cheapest airlines (WorldAirline.com) and the only African airline to feature in the listed top 25.
Fastjet presently operates flights out of Tanzania (Mwanza, Kilimanjaro, and Mbeya, and now Dar es Salaam), Zambia (Lusaka), Zimbabwe (Harare), and South Africa (Johannesburg).
Fastjet and Expedia recently signed a strategic partnership agreement making Expedia the first online travel agency relationship for Fastjet. Greg Schulze, senior vice president of Global Tour and Transport, the Expedia group, stated “Global travellers are increasingly exploring Africa and we can now provide Fastjet flights amongst our broad selection of products and services.”
