Lonrho Plc has announced record passenger numbers for December 2011 following the successful opening of its third strategic hub for its African airline business, Fly540, in Ghana
Load factors across East Africa, Angola and Ghana based on passengers flown and forward bookings exceeded 80 per cent for the month. Fly540 currently flies in Kenya, Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Uganda, Angola and Ghana and is planning on opening routes to additional countries early in the New Year based on the increasing demand for this low cost model. Fly540 Kenya celebrated carrying its one millionth passenger in August 2011 and has reported strong year on year passenger growth.
In Angola, additional aircraft have already been sourced to meet better than forecast demand with two further ATR 72’s mobilised in January. Fly540 Angola is running at almost full capacity with a load factor over 85 per cent for December. The arrival of these further aircraft will increase the destinations flown domestically in Angola over the coming months and Fly540 Angola is planning to build capacity to service a domestic route network of 15 destinations throughout Angola.
Fly540 Ghana, which launched operations recently, has seen an impressive immediate demand and had over 80 per cent load levels in December.
“The demand for quality regional aviation in Africa is clear and with the three hubs of Fly540 now operational in Kenya, Ghana and Angola, the airline is delivering on its objective of creating a first world pan African service,” said David Lenigas, Executive Chairman of Lonrho Plc. “Building on the strong base now implemented, the airline will continue to grow in 2012 and expand the network with the deployment of further aircraft and new routes.”
