Fastjet licence signals rising competition for KQ in domestic market

 

A fastjet airplane. KCAA has licensed the airline to operate on local routes. PHOTO | FILE 

By MUGAMBI MUTEGI

In Summary

• KCAA on Friday gazetted Fastjet’s Air Service Licence (ASL) to Mombasa, Kisumu, Wajir and Eldoret, routes also plied by Kenya Airways.

Fastjet Kenya has formally received one of the two licences it needs to begin domestic flights, taking it closer to launching local operations and posing yet another competitive threat to Kenya Airways (KQ).

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) on Friday gazetted Fastjet’s Air Service Licence (ASL) to Mombasa, Kisumu, Wajir and Eldoret, routes also plied by the national carrier.

The KCAA also allowed Fastjet to operate international flights from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to destinations such as Entebbe, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa and Juba, subject to the Transport ministry’s approval.

Fastjet has now applied to the authority for an air operating certificate (AOC), a demanding licensing process which, if passed, will see the carrier get the greenlight to start flying.

“The ASL is basically the commercial authority for Fastjet to operate domestic and international flights from the JKIA,” KCAA’s director-general Gilbert Kibe said in an interview.

“Fastjet has begun the AOC process where we interrogate specific technical requirements. This five-stage process normally takes between five to eight months, depending on the speed with which the applicant complies.”

The London Stock Exchange-listed airline first announced that it had received the ASL in October, but the regulator speedily denied the claim saying it had not formally issued any licence.

READ: Competition hots up for KQ as Fastjet enters Nairobi

The KCAA said it would gazette the licence a month later but this delayed until last week.

“(The Authority has issued an ASL to Fastjet for) domestic scheduled air services on the route; JKIA to and from Eldoret, Kisumu, Wajir and Mombasa,” Mr Kibe said in the Friday gazette notice.

Fastjet hopes to rev up its expansion plan to build a fleet of up to 34 aircraft operating to 40 destinations within and from Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda by the end of 2018.

Fastjet Tanzania, which currently operates daily flights between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, plans to introduce flights between the Tanzanian city and Mombasa by the end of the year.

This prospect poses the latest competitive threat to KQ which operates flights to Kisumu, Eldoret and Mombasa through its low-cost carrier Jambojet.

Another carrier set to be impacted by Fastjet’s re-entry into the Kenyan market is Fly540 which also plies these routes.