"Fly540", the first kenyan low-cost
Lonrho Africa (LAF) has acquired 49% of the shares in Kenyan airline Five Forty Aviation (Fly540) for $1.5m (R11.6m) in cash. Fly540 is a recently established low cost airline based in Nairobi. As well as providing freight services, Fly540 has been created to meet the growing demand for alternative domestic and regional air travel within Africa. Kenya is seen as an ideal base for the new airline as the country is a popular tourist destination with a thriving domestic air travel market, Lonrho said. Fly540 plans to commence operations in Kenya within two months, with the inaugural route being the busy Nairobi-Mombasa connection. This will be followed by regular services to Malindi and Kisumu. In 2007, with the aim of transforming the group into a transcontinental carrier, Fly540 intends to launch its first international services into the East African region with a minimum of four new destinations. A further four routes are also planned for 2008. The airline will initially deploy a fleet of two modern turbo prop aircraft offering the preferred mix of comfort, speed and economic operating costs. In 2007, Fly540 plans to add two additional similar aircraft. "Our investment in Fly540 represents a solid platform into the Kenyan business sector and an ideal fit with Lonrho's objective to invest in businesses that can make a substantive difference to the region. "Business in Africa is currently severely hampered by the lack of short haul flights between East and West and we strongly believe that Fly540 represents an excellent investment opportunity," said Lonrho CE David Lenigas. Fly540 already has the necessary staff and facilities in place to launch the airline. Offices and check-in facilities are established at Nairobi Domestic and International Terminals as well as at Mombasa Airport, he said. Fly540's CE Don Smith and COO Neil Steffen have both enjoyed long-standing careers with major airlines and have combined experience of more than 50 years across African markets. Most recently, Smith has headed up two airlines based in Nairobi and Steffen left British Airways in early 2006 as BA's GM for East and Central Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands after an extensive international management career in both the operational and commercial aspects of aviation, where much of this time was spent developing new markets in Africa. www.fly540.com this is web site but it doesn't work _________________ Rwandair Express the african's best airlines

This is a very interesting development!! Good to see some real LCCs coming to the Kenyan market. Hope to see what their business plan will be but given that they have Lonrho's financial muscle behind them, they may turn out to be serious players in the industry. They should howver prepare for an aggresive price war with KQ on the NBO-MBA route, which has recently been making substantial contributions to KQ's bottomline (there is regular deployment of 777/767 instead of the usual 732/733 on the 45 minute flight especially on weekends). Cheers, Walter.

Fly540 will initially use two 48 seater ATR42-320 turboprops. The fare is very competitive and will undercut the competition by almost 50% (the average NBO-MBA return fare is about Kshs10,000). It will be interesting to see how the competition responds. As reported by the East African Standard: A new low-cost airline, Fly540, will introduce flights between Nairobi and Mombasa late this month. On November 24, it will start with two return daily services and plans a third one by December. Return fares begin with a pay and go starter fare of Sh5,540 for adults. According to a statement by the airline, it plans to introduce international services in the first quarter of next year, "to meet the growing demand for domestic and regional travel." Also included in the expansion plan is a daily service for the Nairobi-Malindi- Lamu route. The airline will begin its domestic operations on four fare choices, taking off from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Two 48-passenger turbo prop ATR 42-320 aircraft have been purchased to meet the present requirements. The ATR 42-320 is equipped with Pratt and Whitney engines and is highly rated for reliability, comfort, speed and economical operating costs. Travellers have a choice of booking online. Fly540’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Neil Steffen said: "Kenya is the ideal base for our airline as the strong economy is driving escalating demand for domestic and regional air travel. Nairobi is the most appropriate and best hub for services in East Africa and the region." Lonrho has acquired 49 per cent of the issued shared capital of Five Forty Aviation Limited for 1.5 million dollars. David Lenigas, Lonrho’s Joint Executive Chairman and Chief Executive, has been granted board representation and is the chairman of the Company. Cheers

Here's one of the ATR42s. (Photo c/o www.skyliner-aviation.de)

Was just thinking. Fly540 is really not Kenya's first low cost carrier. There have been failed examples, most notably the following: 1. Kenya Flamingo that operated as a subsidiary of KQ. Was re-integrated into KQ mainline substantially due to loss making. Operated the fleet of 2 Saab 340s which are currently in KQ's fleet and due to be replaced by regional jets. 2. East African Express which operated a 727-200 and two leased Yakovlev Yak-40 tri jets. I think they ran into cashflow issues and had to cease local operations. They were on the receiving end of an aggresive price war with KQ principally on the NBO-MBA route and to some extent the NBO-ELD route. KQ also filed suit against them for non payment of aircraft maintenance fees. The YAKs were returned to the lessors and I think the 727 does some charter work. Maybe Mystic can chip in with more examples. Hope this helps. Cheers, W

Hi W Your are quite accurate Air Kenya has joined the NBO-MSA route thro Wilson FLY 540 will have to battle it out against KQ and East African I understnad KQ's new bird has been deployed on the route also to suppliment the triple 7s,FLY 540 1st flight will be at a 50% discount talk about a price war,lastly my apologies for being soooo quiet in the forum I will be away in manchester next week mystic