Citing swelling customer demand, African low-cost airline fastjet has increased the number of flights on its routes between the Tanzanian hubs of Dar es Salaam, and Mwanza, as well as between Dar es Salaam and Lusaka, in Zambia.

The emerging airline said in a statement on Friday that it would add four additional return flights a week on its “popular” route linking Dar es Salaam and Mwanza.

These extra flights would operate on Sundays, Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, bringing the total number of return flights each week to 25.

Tickets would go on sale on Friday, with flights scheduled to start on August 1.

In addition, from August 17, fastjet would also operate an additional return flight on Sundays between Dar es Salaam and Lusaka, bringing the number of flights linking the two countries to four a week.

Tickets for this flight would also be available from Friday.

Commenting on the increase in capacity, fastjet chief commercial officer Richard Bodin asserted that the airline had been the dominant operator on the important Dar es Salaam to Mwanza route “for some time” and the extra rotations would provide passengers with greater choice and flexibility when travelling between the two destinations.

“Moreover, adding another weekly flight to Lusaka demonstrates the popularity of our international offering and that the Zambian market is embracing fastjet's service and prices. This provides a solid foundation for our planned domestic operation in Zambia, which is expected to obtain government approval in the very near future.”

Meanwhile, to accommodate the attendance of several senior Zimbabwean dignitaries at the launch of the route, fastjet's first flight between Dar es Salaam and Harare would take place on August 5.

Fastjet CEO Ed Winter said sales on this route had “far surpassed” expectations and only a handful of seats remained available for travel to Tanzania from Zimbabwe in August.

“We hope to meet this demand by adding additional flights on this route in due course,” he advised.