Winter will not discuss the eventual size of Fastjet’s fleet, but he points out that the joint population of the four countries is 100 million people. “If only 3% of them became our customers and flew twice a year, that would be 12 million journeys,” he notes

In addition to taxation, infrastructure “is going to be a challenge,” Winter admits. But Fastjet could conceivably build its own low-cost terminals if it realizes that the existing infrastructure is unsuitable or upgrades too slow to develop.

Fastjet’s business plan does not foresee the same kind of productivity that would be typical for established low-cost carriers in Europe, the U.S. or Asia. Daily aircraft utilization is expected to be at about 10 hours per day, and turnarounds are to be achieved within 40 min. But Winter says that over time, Fastjet wants to become as productive as the existing LCCs. Fastjet also may benefit from a lack of night curfews across Africa and a willingness among passengers to travel late at night or very early in the morning.