Fastjet (Dar es Salaam) has announced that easyGroup, the investment vehicle of Mr Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has increased its stake in the airline from 3% to 5.81% in lieu of all royalty and consultancy payments due to the group up until year end. Under the deal, easyGroup Holdings Ltd, the owner and licensor of the fastjet brand, will now acquire 110'334'156 newly issued fastjet shares set to become available at the end of the month. In a statement, Mr Haji-Ioannou said he had faith in fastjet CEO, Mr Edward Winter, and his management team, adding that the roll out of the ambitious project to create a Pan-African LCC would "clearly take more time and more investment". He concluded by saying he would be watching their progress with "great interest."