Pan-African low cost airline Fastjet will soon start daily flights between Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, and Dar es Salaam, the commercial centre of Tanzania, to meet passenger demand. This was announced by the airline on Monday. Previously, the airline flew between the two cities four times a week.

“We have always promised to increase the frequency on our route between Lusaka and Dar es Salaam as and when our customers demand it,” stated Fastjet chief commercial officer Richard Bodin. “The increased daily frequencies emphasise our commitment to growing our flight schedule in Zambia, making air travel easy, safe and affordable.”

The new frequencies will commence on September 13, and will provide about 1 000 more seats on the route, which is flown between Zambia’s Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere International Airport. Fares will start at $50, one-way, excluding government taxes.

“We are really thrilled at the positive reception that Fastjet has enjoyed in Zambia,” said Bodin. “With our low cost fares, Fastjet is making air travel more accessible than ever before for Zambians, with many of our passengers being first time flyers who would otherwise not have been able to afford to travel by air.”

The airline has also progressed far with its application to Zambia’s Ministry of Transport and Department of Civil Aviation for an Air Operating Certificate, which will allow it to operate on domestic routes within Zambia. These flights will be carried out by Fastjet Zambia and the proposed routes are between Lusaka, Ndola and Livingstone.

Fastjet has been recruiting Zambians to staff the new operation, including pilots, other air crew, customer support and sales personnel, in a process that has been recently concluded. Fastjet Zambia is expected to have around 170 staff, which is the size of the workforce for Fastjet Tanzania. As in the case of Tanzania, the setting up of the Fastjet operation in Zambia is also expected to create hundreds of indirect jobs.