Fly540.html



Fly540
IATA 5H	ICAO FFV	Callsign SWIFT TANGO
Founded		2006
Hubs		Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
Fleet size		5
Destinations		7
Company slogan		Simplifly
Headquarters		Nairobi, Kenya
Key people		Neil Steffen, Don Smith (Chief Exectutive Officer)
Website: http://www.fly540.com/

Fly540 (Five Forty Aviation) is a low-cost airline based in Nairobi, Kenya. It operates domestic passenger and freight services.¹

History

The airline started operations between Nairobi and Mombasa on November 24, 2006. The service initially operated twice daily using 48-seat ATR 42 aircraft². The airline's name refers to its price of Sh5,540 per adult return fare between the above-mentioned cities ³.

Lonrho Africa is a major investor in the company, paying US $1.5 million for a 49% stake. Lonrho's Joint Executive Chairman and Chief Executive, David Lenigas, was appointed chairman of the company in February 2006.^{citation needed}

In May 2007 the airline introduced two Bombardier Dash 8 Q100 aircraft to increase the airline's capacity, allowing it to develop new domestic routes to Lokichokio, Wajir and Mandera. It planned to expand to international destinations to include at least four other regional destinations in East Africa by the end of 2007, and to add another four in 2008. Fly540 carried over 10,000 passengers in April 2007.⁴

Destinations

The original scheduled flights included – except for freight flights – scheduled passenger traffic between Nairobi and Mombasa. Kisumu became a destination in January 2007³. Daily flights on the Nairobi-Malindi-Lamu route were added in February 2007 ⁵. It was set to commence international operations in October 2007 by flying to Juba in Sudan and Goma in DR Congo ⁶.

As of September 2007, Fly540 has the following destinations ⁷:

• Nairobi - Jomo Kenyatta International Airport
• Eldoret - Eldoret International Airport
• Kisumu - Kisumu Airport
• Lamu - Kiwayu Airport
• Malindi - Malindi Airport
• Masai Mara - Mara Serena Airport
• Mombasa - Moi International Airport

Fleet

The Fly540 fleet includes the following aircraft (at March 2008):

• 3 ATR 42-320
• 1 BAe 146-200 (which is operated by Executive Turbine Air Charter)
• 1 Bombardier Dash 8 Q100

Accidents and incidents

On 13 August 2008, a Fokker F27-500 cargo aircraft operated by Fly540 Logistics Ltd. crashed about 20 km (12 mi) from the Namber Konton airport near Mogadishu, Somalia. All three crew members died. The aircraft was said to be carrying a shipment of khat.⁸ The plane had departed from Wilson Airport in Nairobi. Its registration number is 5Y BVF ⁹

External links

• Fly540
• Fly540 Fleet

References