African budget airline fastjet started commercial flight operations yesterday, with its first aircraft flying passengers from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, and Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Eight sectors were flown, carrying more than 900 passengers and achieving an average booked load factor of 78%. Three of the eight sectors flown exceeded a load factor of 90%.

Upcoming demand for seats on these 2 initial routes is presently far outstripping supply. Extra flights to these destinations are already being taken into consideration, and the Company also expects to expand its route network regionally over the forthcoming weeks as the fleet grows to three Airbus A319s.

Commenting on the achievements of the 1st day, fastjet Chief Executive Ed Winter said: “fastjet is delighted to see how the people of Tanzania are embracing the Low Cost Carrier model. Yesterday was a huge success and a great way to start operations.

“We are pleased to see reservations and bookings continuing to grow. The demand for this type of air travel has far exceeded the Company’s expectations.

“Yesterday’s passengers ranged from business people through to many first time flyers who were using fastjet as an economic alternative to conventional bus transport. Clearly, as predicted, our low cost model is stimulating a whole new market of people to fly,” Winter added

Compare car rental prices in Tanzania with Car Hire Assistant, the car rental price comparison site. Car Hire Assistant covers 175 countries (including Tanzania) with 800 rental firms and 30,000 hire locations. The service is free to use, fast (search in under 1 minute) and does not charge credit card fees or have hidden charges.