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| Founded | 2006 | |||
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| Hubs | Jomo Kenyatta International Airport | |||
| Fleet size | 12 (+10 orders)[1] | |||
| Destinations | 16 | |||
| Company slogan | Simplifly | |||
| Headquarters | Nairobi, Kenya | |||
| Key people | Neil Steffen, Don Smith (Chief Exectutive Officer) | |||
| Website | http://www.fly540.com/ | |||
Fly540 (Five Forty Aviation Ltd.) is a low-cost airline based in Nairobi, Kenya.[2] It operates domestic and international passenger and freight services.[3]
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The airline started operations between Nairobi and Mombasa on November 24, 2006. The service initially operated twice daily using 48-seat ATR 42 aircraft.[4] The airline's name refers to its price of Sh5,540 per adult return fare between the above-mentioned cities.[5]
Lonrho Africa is a major investor in the company, paying US $1.5 million for a 49 % stake.
In May 2007 the airline introduced two de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 aircraft to increase the airline's capacity, allowing it to develop new domestic routes. Passenger numbers rose by 93 % to 171,160 in the year ended 30 September 2008, from 88,571 in 2007. At the same time, the load factor amounted to 63 %, down from 65.8 % in 2007.[6]
The original scheduled flights included freight services and passenger services between Nairobi and Mombasa, while Kisumu became a destination in January 2007.[5] Daily flights on the Nairobi-Malindi-Lamu route were added to its domestic services in February 2007.[7]
International operations commenced in October 2007 with flights to Juba in South Sudan and Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;[8] Entebbe in Uganda was added in February 2008. It was planned to expand the Nairobi hub's destinations to Rwanda, Mozambique and Burundi in 2009.[9] The company's ambition is to become a pan-African carrier, through an expansion to an additional two regional hubs:
"...we will open up Kigali and then head to West Africa. Ghana will be the hub for West African region. In Southern Africa, we shall use Angola as our hub, so it will become a pan African low cost airline".[10]
Fly540 received authorisation to start operations in Angola in April 2009. The initial plans include domestic flights to Cabinda, Luanda, Soyo, Benguela, Huambo and Malanje,[11] but an expansion within the region will take place as soon as the domestic market has proven its success.[12] In June 2009, it was reported that Fly540 was working to set up a regional franchise in Zimbabwe.[13]
Fly 540 has launched direct flights between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, on the western shores of Lake Victoria. Initially the company will operate 11 flights a week and it is hoped that in time its Fokker 28 aircraft which carries 28 people will be upgraded to a 50 seater CRJ 100 aeroplane. The route leaves Dar es Salaam at 06.30 and 16.30, with return flights from Mwanza at 08.15 and 18.15.
As of October 2010, Fly540 has the following destinations:[14]
As of July 2010 the Fly540 fleet consists of the following aircraft:[1]
In January 2008, the company signed a US$150 million contract for eight ATR 72-500s to be delivered in 2008 and 2009.[15] As of July 2010 none of the ATR 72s on order — now totalling ten — have been delivered.[1]
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