Fastjet will launch its first international route on 27 September.
The service between Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam will be operated three times a week with an Airbus A319 narrowbody. Frequencies will be increased "in line with market demand", says the pan-African low-cost carrier, which on 14 June was granted government clearance to fly to South Africa.
"For some time, the Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg route has only been operated by one airline and the lack of competition has created inflated fares," says
Richard Bodin, the airline's chief commercial officer. "Fastjet will substantially reduce the average fare, and in doing so will encourage more leisure and business traffic between Tanzania and South Africa."
Flightglobal's FlightMaps Analytics data shows that South African Airways is currently the only operator on the route.
Fastjet was also given permission to begin operating to Zambia, and it says it will add a Lusaka route to its network "in the near future".
It had also planned to begin operating domestic services in South Africa from July, but has since postponed them indefinitely in order to concentrate on the launch of international services, it says.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
