Budget airline Fastjet (LON:FJET) is trading down nearly 12 percent this morning, after passengers numbers were hit by a prolonged presidential election in Tanzania and November’s severe weather.
The airline carried 62,843 passengers in November 2015 with a load factor for the month of 60%, down 3% on the month before. The company cited a lack of demand from Tanzania as a reason for the disappointing figures; the country is yet to appoint a Cabinet nearly six weeks after election, which has driven down government and civil service demand and affected the travel sector throughout the country.
Fastjet’s punctuality was also slightly lower in November, with only 84% of Fastjet Tanzania flights arriving on time. However, this was countered by 100% of their Zimbabwe flights arriving on time, in the first month since the route’s launch.
Fastjet’s CEO Ed Winter said: “Whilst we remain mindful of the temporary reduction in demand in Tanzania, we expect that this will improve in the New Year when the political environment stabilises. Our “one day anniversary sale” on 30 November produced some excellent results, filling many seats into early 2016.
“We are delighted that fastjet Zimbabwe has been well received in its first month of operation. Passenger feedback has been positive and we look forward to expanding that network.”
Fastjet has continued to expand at a rapid pace, launching a new route between Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg and Zanzibar in November. The company have a 52 week range of between 51.12 and 155 pence per share, and is currently trading at the lower end of that at 51.47 after falling 11.26 percent.
