NAIROBI – Kenya Airways’ subsidiary, and budget airline, Jambojet, is moving to boost its fleet by leasing four more aircraft this year in readiness to launch new routes.
According to Business Daily, the carrier’s chief executive officer (CEO), Allan Kilavuka, says they will be leasing Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 to add to its existing fleet of five aircraft.
The 5-year old airline is building on its success in Uganda, where it launched a daily flight in February last year, to expand to other regional countries.
“We are expecting four additional Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft this year as part of our fleet expansion,” said Mr. Kilavuka in an interview with the daily.
He said at the moment they are engaging the individual governments to seek approval to operate in their countries and that they plan to embark on the new destinations as soon as their requests are approved.
“The plan is to launch the destinations in 2019. However, it is dependent of receiving the approvals on time,” the CEO said.
The lease is expected to last for 10 years, during which time Jambojet will be making monthly payment to the owners of the aircraft.
Entebbe route, a success story
According to the carrier, the Entebbe route has witnessed a 17 percent growth since the first flight was launched last year.
Jambojet was, in 2017, granted regulatory approval to fly to 16 routes including Entebbe, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza, Kigali, Juba, Bujumbura, Hargeisa, Mogadishu, Goma, Kisangani and Moroni.
