Fastjet (Dar es Salaam) disclosed in its half-yearly financial statements filed with the London Stock Exchange that it was considering closing down its operations in Tanzania given the continued losses generated in the country.
Announcing a USD14.6 million net loss on USD30.1 million in revenues for the six-month period ending June 30, 2018, Fastjet said it was encouraged by the development of the Fastjet Zimbabwe (FN, Harare International) and Fastjet Mozambique (Maputo) ventures but that its "ability to continue as a going concern remains very sensitive to (its) future funding requirements."
The board of directors further said that "additional capital will be required by the end of October 2018 to enable fastjet to continue to operate."
The deployment of the carrier's three ATR72-600s has been delayed because of regulatory delays in Tanzania with "no clear indication of when these hurdles may be overcome" prompting Fastjet's board of directors to start considering potentially ceasing operations in the country. The carrier is now considering deploying the ATR72-600s in other markets such as Mozambique or sub-leasing the aircraft to other operators. The introduction of an B787-8 by Air Tanzania (TC, Dar es Salaam) on domestic services has put further pressure on yields in the country.
At present, Fastjet operates two E190s on flights from Dar-es-Salaam to Harare International, Kilimanjaro, Lusaka, Mbeya, and Mwanza. It also operates two E145s in Zimbabwe and two further units of the type in Mozambique in cooperation with Solenta Aviation (SET, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo). It is planning to add a third ERJ-145 to is Mozambique operations considering "strong market conditions."
