Jambojet to expand with regional routes

Jambojet, the low-cost carrier owned by Kenya Airways, plans to add seven routes in east Africa in the next five years to expand in the region. The airline, which says it controls 37% of Kenya’s domestic aviation market, is considering starting its first international route this month, CEO Willem Hondius said, declining to give more details. It will also add at least one more aircraft this year to its existing four as it gradually boosts the fleet to 10, he said. “We want to be a greater Eastern African operator, flying to Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, the Comoros, South Sudan and Goma and Kisangani in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” Hondius said March 31. Economic growth in the countries that Jambojet is targeting, along with its home market of Kenya, is expected to average 5.2% this year, outpacing the 4.3% expansion in sub-Saharan Africa that’s forecast by the IMF. Rival FastJet, which was founded with the ambition to become a pan-African carrier, last month said it’s closing routes on the continent after sales failed to meet expectations. Jambojet has no plans to become a pan-African operator, nor will it seek to target other markets outside the continent, Hondius said. “The target is to grow the market and increase passenger frequencies at a controllable pace,” he said. “We will never fly intercontinental -- you cannot make money there.”<br/>