Africa set to have its first low cost airline

One possibility also being mooted, according to the Daily Telegraph, is for the new airline, which is likely to be called FastJet, to link up with Lonrho’s existing budget airline Fly540.

Africa is set to get its first low-cost budget airline service, thanks to one of the world’s leading experts in the field, EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

The deal is likely to be ratified next week, December 13. If the agreement between Sir Stelios EasyGroup and Rubicon Diversified Investments (RDI) goes ahead, it will be a first for Africa, which is one of the few areas of the world that lacks a continent-wide low-cost airline.

Stelios’ success in the field is unparalleled, with easyJet and its main rival RyanAir having dominated the European market over the past 20 years at the expense of more established companies like British Airways, Air France and Alitalia.

The EasyJet founder has signed a conditional agreement with RDI to develop a “low-cost, point-to-point, no frills, all-jet aircraft” business model for Africa.

This could see Sir Stelios link up with the management team behind Roland — Tiny Rowland’s former company Lonrho — to create the new airline.

Where the airline’s hub will be remains uncertain, as do the number of aircraft bought and the destinations originally established.

But it is highly likely they will include the major East African cities of Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Uganda, as well as centres in South Africa and West Africa.

If the group is established next year, it could become an exciting rival to Kenya Airways, which is planning to extend its network across Africa, and other regional airlines.

One possibility also being mooted, according to the Daily Telegraph, is for the new airline, which is likely to be called FastJet, to link up with Lonrho’s existing budget airline Fly540.

Sir Stelios and Lonrho already have a commercial deal under which they use the Easyhotel brand in Africa.

Lonrho is reported to open a network of 50 hotels across Africa over the next five years.

Mr Robert Burnham, the chairman of Rubicon, said in a statement that the company was “very pleased to have secured the management team of EasyGroup to advise us on our proposed strategy of building a world class aviation company with a focus on the significant potential in Africa.”

The proposal is conditional on the resolutions being approved at Rubicon’s general meeting on December 13.

Earlier this year, Stelios unveiled plans to set up another airline and call it fastjet, stoking already difficult tensions between easyJet management and Stelios, whose family is the largest EasyJet shareholder with 38 per cent.

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