From Business Day

If FastJet CEO Ed Winter gets his way, air travel in Africa will be as cheap as taking a bus.

Just ask the fishermen of the remote Tanzanian port of Mwanza on Lake Victoria. They hop on the morning flight to Dar-es-Salaam with their catch and spend the day selling to restaurants before flying home in the evening.

This week, the upstart low-cost airline, in which easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou has a hefty stake, said its financial results had proved the viability of the low-cost airline model in Tanzania.

Group revenue for the year to December 2013 rose 154% to $53.4-million (about R575-million), of which $26-million could be attributed to its operations in Tanzania.

The carrier’s load factor was a respectable 72% and average revenue per passenger rose from $46.30 to $95.20.

It posted an operating loss for the year of $47.6-million before exceptional items; $21.9m was attributable to its core African operation, Tanzania.

Written by Paul Ash/Read more at Business Day