With ambitious plans to create Africa’s first pan-continental airline, fastjet will bring
international standards of safety, quality, security and reliability.

Low-cost is quite simply the avoidance of costly frills, offering customers the lowest possible
fares in addition to pay-as-you travel extras. This affords passengers the flexibility to pay for
additional services such as a bag or refreshment rather than having to pay for it regardless
whether you want it or not.

Importantly fastjet low-cost definitely does not mean low quality. Despite the many challenges
that exist outside our control we will be open, honest, transparent and communicative to
ensure that your travel arrangements remain with the least amount of interruption.

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Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of EasyJet, is set to launch a low-cost airline in Africa this year after taking a 5% stake in a new venture FASTJET PLC.

The easyGroup tycoon, who is embroiled in a long-running boardroom battle with easyJet, is backing a carrier that will operate under his Fastjet airline and be run by former easyJet executives.

Fastjet will operate from Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Angola. The ambition is to carry more than 12 million passengers a year, from the 500,000 at present, by cashing in on demand for regional travel from a burgeoning African middle-class.

Haji-Ioannou said the move would help bring low-cost air travel to more Africans. "This is another small but significant step in bringing the dream of low-cost air travel to millions of people in Africa – the aviation industry's last frontier. Past experience shows that by halving fares, a successful low-cost carrier can encourage those people, who have never previously travelled by air, to fly."

Plop!

Can we rely on you to highlight the gaps on the way up.......as & when? ;o)

Warned posters about this one on the accent of EZJ when I was repeatedly told swap swap over.

Glad I didnt now got well over a bagger on my hands.

Operational Update

fastjet, Africa's low cost airline, ahead of the release of its monthly passenger statistics is pleased to report its best month of trading to date across the entire Group.

Tanzania
Passenger sales records for the fastjet operation were comfortably beaten in May. Revenues, in excess of US$1.8m for the month, were up approximately 50 per cent compared with the start of the year. Revenue per passenger has increased by 62 per cent since the beginning of 2013 and load factor* rose 11 per cent in May compared to April. This performance is expected to continue into June.

These encouraging figures show that the Tanzanian public has fully embraced the low cost airline model and fastjet has successfully stimulated a new market in Tanzania. Six months since launch, fastjet is regularly flying profitably (more than covering direct operating costs). in Tanzania, and is expecting to commence flights on international routes from Dar es Salaam shortly.

Ghana
The Fly540 operation in Ghana has also made significant progress in terms of passenger loads and revenues. The number of passengers booked to travel in May saw an 11 per cent increase against the previous month and the operation has also seen a 52 per cent increase in passenger numbers compared with May 2012, a 25 per cent increase in revenue, and an exemplary operational record of reliability.

We are also seeing a significant change in consumer behaviour with a 398 per cent increase in web based sales so far in 2013 versus the whole of 2012.

Angola
Traditionally a more challenging place to operate in, fastjet's Angolan business has achieved its highest passenger sales figure since the start of operations in January 2011 with a 63 per cent increase in passenger numbers in the last five months, and a corresponding revenue increase of 66.5% per cent between January and May. Month on month passenger growth between April and May was 38%.

fastjet is training more Angolan pilots than ever and is looking to increase the scale of its operation there as soon as practical.

Ed Winter, Chief Executive Officer of fastjet said: "May has been an excellent month for the Group. The Tanzanian operation has seen a real growth in passenger sales revenues. This suggests that we have captured the hearts and minds of the Tanzanian public and I am delighted that we are now firmly the "airline of choice" on all of the routes we currently operate."

"Our continued growth in both Angola and Ghana is enormously pleasing. Simply put, we are carrying more passengers, enjoying increased yields and an ever improving level of dispatch reliability in each of these operations.

"Since the start of the year, we have grown the business substantially in the face of challenges. Our prospects in each of our operations look very positive and our aim to become Africa's first low cost carrier is well on its way to becoming a reality."


*the average percentage of seats sold on each operating aircraft

Would this be a good time to open a position,update looks good.

The only area which they say is operating profitably is Tanzania. I assume that Ghana & Angola are still not, even though bums on seats have increased.

I guess like many investments in Africa, its all down to the :-

Interesting board of directors. Not an african amongst them!

http://www.fastjet.com/tz/corporate/board-of-directors

And main shareholders are :

Lonrho Plc 1,160,037,455 - 47.53%

Henderson Global Investors 152,728,147 - 6.26%

easyGroup Holdings Limited 93,327,995 - 3.82%

Still, there is good news! "To celebrate the re-launch of our popular route between Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar, we’re offering one lucky person the chance to win 2 return flight tickets on this route!"

Could not resist a punt on this one this morning,turning a corner in the right direction,main shareholders also give me some confidence.

Good luck with that Roselea! I think I will wait awhile.

I need 4.5 to break even!!!
Should wait for ten years probably!!!

up 67% wow..

Director buys 1,000,000 shares at 0.986 missed the boat there did,nt he,even I got in miles cheaper than that

Id watch it like hawkeye. Same posters who have taken it up may well take it back down tomorrow. Just seen the usual suspects across the road as holders.

Do I sense some nut cases are not in?

They missed the bottom or they had no "balls" to buy at lows,
no wonder they are negative?
That would not happened if they bought, ramping will be the tone here, there and everywhere.

Gold diggers, that need - toilet paper - for what they have found, that is the truth.

So next rises in share price will come if or as and when any of these milestones are reached:

Tanzanian Government grants cross border flying which seems more likely given that FJ are courting local investors in Tanzania – more local influential political influence. Expect this within 3 months and share price rise to follow.

South Africa – 1st July launch date. We all know we need this to happen on time now. Rise in share price will follow.

More Director buys – rise in share price will follow.

Integrating all the Fly450 operations into the FJ website and making the bookings of them accessible as per the Tanzanian options currently available on the FJ website. Revenue will increase simply because bookings are accessible and share price will rise in line with that slowly. A more coherent brand makes sense.

Confirming partnership deals like TUI and others – price will rise.

Just need to be very careful with Kenya and Don Smith, the more distance we put between FJ and him the better I would say. Also need to avoid any reputational damage like scandals or safety issues but apart from that we are all good.

As I say all in my humble opinion, good luck fellow investors/punters

mascot, Im just reporting what I have seen across the road on the 'top traders thread'.

ohh and by the way I wouldnt need to buy stock at the bottom, I could just buy the whole airline If I was interested.

@ 3.15am reporting!

Someone has sleepless nights? no the type of people that can buy a small airline.
But talk is easy than done, if influence by drink or drugs at the time.
Iinsomnia is not good for the stock market, you are missing today's rise already at 1.48p or 38% and paying full offer price.

Looking good for you Roselea!

FastJet founder says it is in Africa for the long haul
by Evan Pickworth, 07 June 2013, 07:45

LONDON-listed FastJet may have failed to lift off in South Africa at the end of last month, as planned, but one of its key stakeholders, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, said on Thursday he was willing to take a five-year view on the deal.

FastJet aims to match the success of low-cost carrier in the UK easyJet by creating a low-cost Pan-African carrier, but has hit serious headwinds in Africa. Expansion in East Africa has been grounded because of disputes with former management at a regional African airline it bought.

Further, it is in conflict of interest disputes with a former subsidiary in Zimbabwe and has failed in its bid to buy the bankrupt 1time in South Africa. But FastJet is flying successfully from its base in Tanzania.

Also, it has set up in South Africa a company that has the required 75% local shareholding to own an airline. And it has struck a deal with President Jacob Zuma’s son Edward and other connected businessmen.

"Africa is a difficult place to do business — it is not open skies," said Sir Stelios at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards on Thursday. "It is like trying to invest in Europe in the ’80s."

He launched his successful pan-European airline in the ’90s after regulation had been eased.

Sir Stelios said Africa was the "final frontier of aviation" as the low-cost revolution had happened everywhere else already. "We will see what happens — I can’t say it will be a success in five years, but it is risky."

FastJet says it hopes to be ready for take-off in South Africa in July after the failure to launch at the end of last month because of technical difficulties.

But it will fly into more stormy skies when it eventually takes off because of thin margins in South Africa, evidenced by the long line of failed low-cost airlines. Durban-based Velvet Sky has already admitted defeat.

On the other hand, Comair is in the middle of a legal challenge to the government’s continuing support for local carrier SAA despite continual losses.

But FastJet has outsourced operations to Federal Air, which has some success in flying tourists to game reserves and has a licence to fly long haul.

Sir Stelios said while higher fuel costs had been passed on to consumers, this could not continue forever.

He believed this would mean a period of slower growth for airlines, but saw profits for low-cost airlines if they could not compete on price.

"Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, but they all like to take risks," Sir Stelios said.

FastJet is backed by London and JSE-listed Lonrho, which on Tuesday published a scheme of arrangement proposing the company be bought by FS Africa and delisted.