Fastjet, the low-cost pan-African airline, was awarded the Transport Innovator Award for a second consecutive year at the 9th Transport Africa Awards 2016 held in Johannesburg, South Africa on 28 June 2016. The Transport Africa Awards set out to identify and reward leaders in transportation who demonstrate an unparalleled ability to succeed, offer a competitive advantage and set standards of excellence in the sector.
 
The Transport Innovator Award specifically recognises companies providing an innovative product, service or initiative that offers a competitive advantage, satisfies transport demands across Africa and has equal capacity to realise commercial gains. “It’s an honour to win the Transport Innovation Award for the second consecutive year. This recognition highlights Fastjet’s vision and efforts to make air travel accessible and affordable to more people on the African continent,” says Jai Gilbert, Head of Marketing at Fastjet.
 
Fastjet was rewarded for its approach to making air travel affordable, reliable and safe across its pan-African network, which includes domestic routes in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, and international routes from Tanzania and Zimbabwe to South Africa, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya.
 
Since Fastjet’s launch in November 2012, the airline has celebrated the major milestone of flying over two million passengers across the African continent. It has also flown over 23,500 flights, with many passengers expected to be first time flyers who - because of prohibitively high fares - could previously not afford to travel by air.
 
Supporting this statement is recent research undertaken by the airline, showing that up to 40% of passengers on all routes were first time flyers able to afford air travel for the first time, thanks to Fastjet’s low fares.
 
The airline offers domestic flights from as little as US$20 and international flights for as little as US$50, both excluding airport and government taxes.
 
The Transport Innovator Award 2016 adds to Fastjet’s growing collection of accolades, with the airline winning Africa’s Leading Low-Cost Airline at the 23rd Annual World Travel Awards in 2016, the Transport Innovator Award at the 8th Transport Africa Awards in 2015, as well as being named the cheapest low-cost carrier in Africa by flight comparison site WhichAirline.com in 2014.