Air fares down as Fastjet enters Kenyan market

The cost of local and regional air tickets has dropped by approximately 40% following the entrance of Fastjet in the Kenya market.

The drop in air fare was witnessed when Fastjet announced that it would commence direct routes from Dar es Salaaam and Kilimanjaro to Nairobi.

“The fact is that competition is good for consumers. It brings choice and it brings air fares down,” said Jimmy Kibati, Fastjet General Manager for East Africa.

The launch of Fastjet’s flights into the market is expected to relieve Nairobi passengers from high fares especially in the tough Kenyan economy.

Fastjet fares are significantly lower compared to those charged by airlines currently operating direct flights between the two countries, with the airline’s Nairobi-Kilimanjaro fares starting from Ksh 5,100, and Nairobi-Dar es Salaam fares starting from Ksh 8,160 both on a one-way basis, in exclusion of government taxes.

For this reason the flight is expected to target first time flyers.

“As has been the case with other routes that Fastjet has launched, we expect many of our passengers on our new Kenya flights to be first time flyers who would otherwise not have been able to afford to travel by air,” said Kibati.

The airline is expected to increase its flights frequency to Nairobi from Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro to Nairobi.

The airline is expected to launch flights between Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa later in the year.