Under a memorandum of understanding signed with Blockbuster‚ Fastjet's first route will be between Johannesburg and Cape Town. Blockbuster will own a 75% stake in the local Fastjet operation and will partner with local aviation company Federal Airlines.
"Air fares in South Africa have skyrocketed since 1Time was liquidated in November last year‚" said Fastjet chairman David Lenigas. "We do not seek to be a hostile competitor in the market place‚ as we fully understand and appreciate the significance of the national carrier and existing airlines in country‚" he said.
"Fastjet seeks to meet demand and we look forward to bringing the people of Africa a low-cost‚ point-to-point‚ airline‚ operating to international standards of safety and quality," he said.
Lenigas said the airline intended operating flights on the Johannesburg to Cape Town route twice a day and would launch flights to other destinations once this route was established.
Fastjet had been in talks with a number of local entities to support its market entry strategy.
These talks included possibly buying 1Time.
However‚ Fastjet's directors believed the value of 1Time had diminished and with no indication whether 1Time would accept its offer‚ the company chose to invest in the Blockbuster and Federal Airlines venture.
Federal Airlines commercial manager Brad Dickson said it looked forward to working with Fastjet to cement a new relationship in the South African aviation environment.
Fastjet's chief executive Ed Winter said operating agreements were in place between Blockbuster and Federal Air and represented a "great opportunity" for the airline.
"Though we have been in talks with a number of companies regarding licensing arrangements‚ we have decided that‚ in order to best serve South African customers‚ we should invest not in the past‚ but in the future‚" he said.
"We are now firmly focused on quickly getting up and running in order to create a fresh‚ commercially sustainable airline.
Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge
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