FASTJET GROUP CEO SET TO STEP DOWN

Ed Winter, Fastjet CEO.

Africa-focused budget airline Fastjet Plc, which launched flights from Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro to Nairobi last week, has announced that its chief executive Ed Winter will step down soon.

Mr. Winter will remain at the helm until a new chief executive is appointed. He will continue in an advisory role for an agreed period of time, the London-listed company said.

A recruitment firm will be appointed to start the search for a new CEO, Fastjet said.

Winters, who has been the CEO of Fastjet since 2012, has also been chief operating officer at EasyJet Plc, low cost airline Go and also CEO of National Air Services in Saudi Arabia.

The budget carrier’s re-entry into the Kenyan market has raised hope of lower air fares on the Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar routes.

The airline has announced plans to introduce flights between Dar es Salaam and Mombasa later this year, in yet another threat to Kenya Airways’ dominance in the region.

The low-cost carrier, which on Monday launched flights from Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), also said it plans a Zanzibar-Nairobi flight by the end of the year.

The route expansion is expected to step up competition for KQ, which currently operates flights to Mombasa and Zanzibar from its Nairobi base, and also for its Tanzanian-registered associate Precision Air, which also flies to Zanzibar from the JKIA.

Fastjet first entered Kenya through an equity investment in Fly540, which it disposed of in 2014 to start from scratch.

The launch of its flights came after existing players including KQ protested its planned re-entry, delaying its licensing by Kenyan aviation authorities.

Business Daily, Kenya