fastjet launches Harare-Johannesburg low-cost flights

fastjet’s inaugural flight between Harare in Zimbabwe and Johannesburg in South Africa took off earlier, marking the low-cost airline’s newest international route in Africa.

Flight FN8102 departed Harare International Airport at 06:15 and landed in Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport at 07:55.

The return FN8108 flight from Johannesburg took off at 08:40 and was welcomed back to Harare at 10:15.

“Today’s flight is an important milestone in fastjet’s route expansion and is a result of working closely with the governments and civil aviation authorities of Zimbabwe and South Africa to bring affordable, reliable, safe, and on-time flights between the two countries,” said Richard Bodin, fastjet chief commercial officer.

The launch of the Harare-Johannesburg flights kick-starts a new era of choice for passengers who have either been forced to pay prohibitively high fares on flights between the two cities, or were compelled to travel by road on a journey that could take up to 20 hours to complete.

Fastjet will initially operate the route once daily on its modern Airbus A319 jet aircraft, with an additional daily flight expected to be quickly added as consumer demand increases.

The commencement of flights on the Harare-Johannesburg route is due to fastjet Zimbabwe receiving clearance from the Zimbabwean and South African governments to operate flights between the two respective countries.

The airline also announced that it intends launching a second international route flying between Victoria Falls and Johannesburg in the near future.

“The fact is that competition is good for consumers. It brings choice and it brings air fares down,” added Bodin.
fastjet expects many of its passengers on this new route to be first time flyers who, because of prohibitively high fares, could previously not afford to travel by air.