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Fly540
Kenyan airline From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Five Forty Aviation Ltd, trading as Fly540, is a low-cost airline based in Nairobi, Kenya.[1] It commenced operations in 2006 with both passenger and cargo services.[2] The airline had two subsidiary airlines, Fly540 Ghana (suspended in May 2014 and since sold) and Fly540 Angola (suspended in May 2014), but has since focused its business expansion plans in East Africa.[3] The company slogan is Your Local Airline.
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History
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Initial domestic services
Fly540 started operations between Nairobi and Mombasa on November 24, 2006.[4] The airline's name refers to its price of KSh5,540 per adult return fare between the above-mentioned cities.[5]
Lonrho Africa was a major investor in the company, paying US $1.5 million for a 49% stake.[6]
Passenger numbers rose by 93% to 171,160 in the year ending 30 September 2008, compared to 88,571 in 2007. At the same time, the load factor amounted to 63%, down from 65.8% in 2007.[7]
Pan-African ambitions
The original scheduled flights included freight 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 Fly540's domestic services in February 2007.[8]
International operations commenced in October 2007 with flights to Juba in South Sudan and Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;[9] service to Entebbe in Uganda began in February 2008. Additionally, Fly540 Tanzania launched direct flights[10] between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, on the western shores of Lake Victoria.
Initially the company operated 11 flights a week and it was hoped that in time its Fokker 28 aircraft, which carried 28 people, would be upgraded to a 50-seat CRJ100.
Investment by Fastjet
In June 2012, Fly540 was sold for $85.7 million (Sh7.3 billion) to British investment firm Rubicon Diversified Investments (now Fastjet Plc [11]), who purchased the airline from Lonrho group. Rubicon said it had chosen to acquire Fly540 as its platform for the launch of a budget airline in Africa, to be modelled on EasyJet, Europe's second largest low-cost carrier.[12]
The first flights were transferred to the new airline, Fastjet, on 29 November 2012.[13] These were two domestic routes in Tanzania; it had been expected that all Fly540 flights would quickly be transferred to Fastjet, in turn, as the various arrangements and permissions required for each route were agreed upon.
Following the acquisition of Lonrho's 49% interest in Five Forty Aviation Kenya Ltd, and a further 49.98% economic interest in the company approved at a Fastjet General meeting on 29 June 2012, it became apparent that the vendor did not consider the additional acquisition had completed. The dispute led to legal claims by both parties over the ownership and other matters.[14] A Memorandum of Understanding was reached on 23 April 2013 where both parties agreed to stop legal proceedings against each other because Fastjet did not believe they had control or significant influence. As of 1 July 2014, a settlement was agreed between Fastjet and Don Smith [CEO] in which Fastjet transferred all shares in Five Forty Aviation Kenya LTD to Don Smith and Fastjet relinquished any further interest in Five Forty Aviation Ltd. The Five Forty brand name is now for sole use of Five Forty Aviation Kenya Ltd.
Suspension
Fly540's operations in Kenya were suspended in November 2022 by the country's Competition Authority following complaints over false advertising, short notice before cancellation of flights, and delayed refunds.[15] The carrier was ordered to refund a batch of tickets sold after the date on which its Air Operators Certificate expired as well as any ticket before that date "where flights were cancelled arbitrarily."[16]
In 2025, a Kenyan court ordered the sale of aircraft leased to Fly540.[17]
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Corporate affairs
Since the acquisition of Lonrho (BVI) Ltd's interest on 29 June 2012, Five Forty Aviation Ltd is now 100% privately owned.[18]
Destinations
As of February 2016, Fly540 flies to the following destinations.
Fleet
Current fleet
The Fly540 fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2019):[19]
Fleet development
In January 2008, the company signed a US$150 million contract for eight ATR 72-500s to be delivered in 2008 and 2009.[20] These orders have since been cancelled [21] In April 2014, Fastjet announced that two ATRs and both DC-9 aircraft were to be withdrawn from service: the ATRs are to be sold, and the DC-9s are to be returned to their lessors.
Former fleet
The airline previously operated the following aircraft (as of August 2017):[22]
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Accidents
- On 13 August 2008, a Fokker F27 Friendship, registered as 5Y-BVF, flying from Nairobi Airport to K50 Airport, Somalia, crashed into a Radio masts/tower. All three occupants died.[23]
- On 27 January 2011, a Fokker F27 FriendshipCRF, registered as 5X-FFD, overran the runway at Wilson Airport, Kenya. This was the second attempt for take-off after the first one resulted in aborting the takeoff. All four occupants survived.[24]
- On 28 February 2020, a de Havilland Dash 8-300 operating for Fly540 experienced an engine failure while departing from Lokichar. The aircraft was operating as a charter flight to Nairobi's Wilson Airport with 49 oil workers and 5 crew members onboard. The aircraft returned to Lokichar, where it overran the runway.[25]
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See also
References
External links
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