Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has taken a step towards forming a low-cost African carrier under the name Fastjet, with the sale of Lonrho’s aviation business to UK-based investment firm Rubicon.
Under the agreement of the $87.5 million sale, Haji-Ioannou will take a five per cent share in Rubicon, with Easy Group having the right to appoint two members to the board of Rubicon, and former Easyjet chief operating officer Ed Winter becoming CEO of Fastjet. Haji-Ioannou first unveiled plans for a new airline called Fastjet in September 2011.
Lonrho’s aviation business currently flies under the Fly540 branding, with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and Ghana. Co-incidentally the carrier’s livery and website uses a similar orange colour scheme to that of Easyjet.
In a statement, Rubicon said: “The combined talents of Rubicon’s management team, our partners from Lonrho and Sir Stelios’ Easy Group will transform Fly540, already a growing and successful business, into Fastjet, a low cost, point-to-point, no-frills all jet airline for Africa."
Rubicon added that plans for Fastjet’s launch were “underway but not yet finalised” and the company may need to raise more cash to allow it to purchase “an appropriate fleet of modern jet aircraft”.
Ed Winter, who is currently acting as a consultant for the project, said: "The African aviation market is significantly under-served and there are major opportunities for growth in the aviation industry across Africa where current offerings are, with a few exceptions, sub-standard compared to international norms.
"With rising GDP and consumer spending, and changing demographics, Africa is ripe for a democratisation of air travel. We plan to achieve that through the launch of Fastjet, the first true pan-African low-cost airline operating to European standards of safety security and quality."
David Lenigas, executive chairman of Lonrho, added: “The next step in the growth of the business requires a world-class aviation team to develop the business to meet the growing demand for a scheduled regional airline in Africa.
“I am delighted that Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Easy Group have studied this market and concluded that the Lonrho aviation division provides a unique entry platform for the development of a true low cost carrier for Africa, to be branded Fastjet.
“The combination of Lonrho's experience in Africa; the aviation experience of Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Easy Group; the route network and operations already established by Lonrho Aviation across Africa and Rubicon's cash resources will enable Fastjet to quickly develop its low-cost airline.”