With the entry of a new low budget carrier, the trends in air travel may soon change.

Transcription

1 AFJOUR-JANUARY 11-JANUARY 12-LOW BUDGET AIRLINES LOW BUDGET AIRLINES LOCATION: NAIROBI, JOHANNESBURG, ARUSHA AND DAR-ES-SALAAM KENYA, SOUTH AFRICA AND TANZANIA REPORT BY: RUFUS SHILENJE AND KARIUKI GICIRA. DURATION: 04:57 RECENT AND FILE HERBERT MEMELA: 04:57 A1: MIXED NATURAL SOUND AND VOICEOVER: ENGLISH NARRATION BY CLIFF KOTANGE WITH KISWAHILI SPEECH**BROADCASTERS PLEASE PAN A-1 ONTO BOTH CHANNELS FOR PROGRAMME BROADCAST** A2: NATURAL SOUND ONLY, NOT FOR USE DURING PROGRAMME BROADCAST SOURCE: REUTERS TV & WEB RESTRICTIONS~**NONE**~ With the entry of a new low budget carrier, the trends in air travel may soon change. SHOWS 1. VARIOUS OF BUS PARK 2. VARIOUS OF VEHICLES ON THE ROAD (AJ) JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 3. VARIOUS OF PLANES LANDING 4. VARIOUS OF AT LAUNCH 5. PASSENGERS ENTERING PLANE 6. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) FASJET CEO, SAYING; I think at the moment there are people who can t dream of flying, flying is so expensive in Africa for a lot of people they take very long bus journeys, they walk a long way, they don t even dream about the possibility that they could fly in an airplane. Now fastjet is going to bring fares as low as 20 dollars plus taxes one way. 7. VARIOUS OF MATATUS IN DAR-ES-SALAAM 8. PASSENGERS IN A PLANE 9. LANDSCAPE FROM PLANE 10. FLIGHT CONDUCTOR WAVING AT PLANE 11. MORE OF PLANE LANDING 12. PASSENGERS ALIGHTING FROM PLANE 13. (SOUNDBITE)(KISWAHILI) VOXPOP, SAYING;

2 I think that it will help especially in the aspect of the economy. Business people will be able to move from one area to another and because of their prices, it can help to improve the economy. 14. TANZANIAN FLAG 15. SIGNAGE: JULIUS NYERERE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 16. STATUE OF SOLDIER HOLDING GUN (AJ) ARUSHA, TANZANIA (RECENT)(REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 17. VARIOUS OF AUGUSTINE NAMFUA, CHAIRPERSON, JAMBO ARTS FESTIVAL TAKING PART IN A STREET MARCH 18. VARIOUS OF EXHIBITION STANDS AT THE JAMBO ARTS FESTIVAL 19. VARIOUS OF PAINTER 20. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) AUGUSTINE NAMFUA, CHAIRPERSON,JAMBO ARTS FESTIVAL SAYING; I believe that that the opportunities are a lot more than the challenges which of course can be tackled. For example I would like to travel around the East African community and do business as a young man I would love that I wouldn t like to cross borders with a lot of stamps. 21. PEOPLE WAITING AT BUS STAGE 22. MORE OF PASSENGERS IN A PLANE 23. PLANES AT THE JULIUS NYERERE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 24. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) FASJET CEO, SAYING; In somewhere like Nairobi its quite a sophisticated market people who want to go for weekend breaks so if they can go to Zanzibar very cheaply go for a week there is a lot of it in Europe but it won t be so quite in Africa. 25. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT AIRPORT 26. PLANE AT HANGAR 27. BANNER: ETHIOPIAN 28. MODEL OF SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS 29. VARIOUS OF ALLY KHAN SATCHU, ECONOMIST AT HIS OFFICE 30. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) ALLY KHAN SATCHU,ECONOMIST, SAYING; There is no scale right now and I think that is an issue and you ve got a lot of currency volatility, you know African currencies are notoriously volatile and you ve got challenges negotiating landing rights and slots in the right places. (AJ) JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 31. PLANE AT AIRPORT 32. MORE OF PASSENGERS

3 33. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) ALLY KHAN SATCHU,ECONOMIST, SAYING; There are very few airports which are of the quality and type of a first world country and that is an issue. Just take Nairobi for an example, the airport is lagging demand. I mean the airport experience at JKIA is simply not optimal. 34.MORE OF PASSENGERS ALIGHTING PLANE 35. (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) FASJET CEO, SAYING; At the other end of the extreme we are still going to be servicing people who make last minute decisions, business people, politicians whoever wants to turn up at the airport and travel on a reliable flight. 36. MORE OF PLANES STORY VOICEOVER: R/T: 00:54 Commuters at a bustling bus stage in Kenya s capital, Nairobi. They are travelling to various parts of the country. However, bus transport is often irregular especially during the festive season. This scene is replicated in countless African countries. But with the launch of fasjet, Africa s first low budget carrier, travelling across the East African region will be more reliable. Ed Winter is the Chief Executive officer of the new airline. Winter has more than 40 years experience in the aviation industry. SOT: R/T: 00:20 (Male/ English) I think at the moment there are people who can t dream of flying, flying is so expensive in Africa for a lot of people they take very long bus journeys, they walk a long way, they don t even dream about the possibility that they could fly in an airplane. Now fastjet is going to bring fares as low as 20 dollars plus taxes one way. VOICEOVER: R/T: 00:29 A 12 hour bus ride from Dar Es Salaam to Mwanza costs about 45,000 Tanzanian shillings or an equivalent of 30 US dollars. Normal flights normally take an hour. However, the low budget model works on the first come first serve basis. Low budget

4 carriers or no frills airlines do not offer services that may be considered as luxuries. SOT: R/T: 00:14 (Male/ Kiswahili) VOXPOP I think that it will help especially in the aspect of the economy. Business people will be able to move from one area to another and because of their prices, it can help to improve the economy. VOICEOVER: R/T: 00:29 The Airline will initially operate from the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to the Tanzanian towns of Arusha and Mwanza. Augustine Namfua is the chairperson of the Jambo Arts Festival. The arts and culture event is held in Arusha over a period of nine days. Namfua is of the opinion that the introduction of carriers like fastjet is going to be beneficial to people like him. SOT: R/T: 00:24 (Male/ English) AUGUSTINE NAMFUA, CHAIRPERSON JAMBO ARTS FESTIVAL I believe that that the opportunities are a lot more than the challenges which of course can be tackled. For example I would like to travel around the East African community and do business as a young man I would love that I wouldn t like to cross borders with a lot of stamps. VOICEOVER: R/T: 00:21 With a combined population of about 135 million people in the East Africa, fastjet will serve an ever increasing middle class. In 2011, 56 million people travelled in Africa million Of these were within the continent. SOT: R/T: 00:15 (Male/ English) In somewhere like Nairobi its quite a sophisticated market people who want to go for weekend breaks so if they can go to Zanzibar very cheaply go for a week there is a lot of it in Europe but it won t be so quite in Africa. VOICEOVER: R/T: 00:18 For many years, most commuters have been reliant on national carriers like Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways. Ally Khan Satchu is an economist and predicts that

5 fastjet will face challenges that may need government intervention. SOT: R/T: 00:16 (Male/ English) ALLY KHAN SATCHU, ECONOMIST There is no scale right now and I think that is an issue and you ve got a lot of currency volatility, you know African currencies are notoriously volatile and you ve got challenges negotiating landing rights and slots in the right places. VOICEOVER: R/T: 00:12 The lack of adequate infrastructure to handle the expected passengers may also be a challenge for the industry. SOT: R/T: 00:14 (Male/ English) ALLY KHAN SATCHU, ECONOMIST There are very few airports which are of the quality and type of a first world country and that is an issue. Just take Nairobi for an example, the airport is lagging demand. I mean the airport experience at JKIA is simply not optimal. VOICEOVER: R/T 00:09 So does the low budget carriers only cater to the lower end of the market? SOT: R/T: 00:10 (Male/ English) At the other end of the extreme we are still going to be servicing people who make last minute decisions, business people, politicians whoever wants to turn up at the airport and travel on a reliable flight. VOICEOVER: R/T: 00:12 With the entry of new players in the African aviation industry, flying may become as simple as taking a bus journey to your next destination. END.