fastjet wins Transport Africa's Innovation Award

The Transport Africa Awards set out to identify and reward leaders in transportation who have demonstrated an unparalleled ability to succeed, and who continually set standards of excellence in the sector.

The Transport Innovator Award specifically recognises companies providing an innovative product, service or initiative - either operational, technological or business model-led - that offers a competitive advantage and satisfies transport demands across Africa.

fastjet, which launched in November 2012, was rewarded for its approach to making air travel affordable, reliable and safe across its pan-African network, which includes four domestic routes in Tanzania and six international routes from Tanzania to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda and Malawi.

The airline carried more than one million passengers in its first two years of operation, and year-on-year passenger growth was 52% from May 2014 to May 2015. Research undertaken by the airline found that due to its low-fare business model, 35% of its passengers were first time flyers who would otherwise not have been able to afford to travel by air.

The vision

"This Award recognises the importance and relevance of our vision to make air travel accessible to more people on the African continent," says Richard Bodin, Chief Commercial Officer at fastjet. "It's commendable that the industry is recognising our achievements at a time when our growth rate is increasing significantly."

The airline offers domestic flights within Tanzania from as little as US$20 and flies from Dar es Salaam to international destinations for as little as US$50, both excluding airport and government taxes. fastjet's fare model allows customers to choose and pay for various non-essential elements such as seat allocation, hold luggage and in-flight meals.

fastjet also offers a range of innovative features including its luggage upgrade option, 'Freighty', that allows passengers to transport up to 80kg of checked in bags, and fastjet's 'Smart Class' fares which include pre-booked premium seat selection, increased baggage allowance of 32kg and the ability to change flight dates.

The Freighty luggage option in particular is popular with traders flying with fastjet to purchase wholesale produce internationally to transport back to their home markets to sell.

And rather uniquely, the airline allows passengers on its Mwanza flights to take up to 20kg of fish as hold luggage for only US$6 when pre-booked.

This award adds to fastjet's accolades, with the airline named the cheapest low-cost carrier in Africa by flight comparison site, WhichAirline.com in 2014.