Budget airline Jambojet has been ranked as the airline with the youngest aircraft in Africa in a report by global aviation intelligence provider, ch-aviation.
The report shows that Jambojet’s average aircraft age is 4.3 years compared to the continent’s average of 16 years, the oldest globally. It is followed by Royal Air Maroc Express of Morocco and Air Austral in Reunion at 6.03 and 6.05 years respectively. Ethiopian Airlines and RwandAir came in fourth and fifth respectively at 6.11 and 6.17 years respectively.
Globally, the average age of aircraft flying is 12 years. The youngest airline fleets is in Asia which averages 8.5 years. The report analysed more than 30,000 active commercial passenger and cargo aircraft.
Jambojet recently received the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certification. The airline became the second operator in Kenya to receive the IOSA certification in Kenya, after Kenya Airways.
Jambojet operates a fleet of Bombardier Q-400 Next Gen aircraft that allows for greater efficiency in maintenance while sustaining the highest safety standards. In May 2019, it announced that it has acquired two new Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft to its fleet. The 2 planes have been leased from Chorus Aviation Capital. Both aircraft are scheduled to be delivered and enter service in 2019. They will join 5 other Bombardier Q-series leased by Jambojet between May 2017 and May 2018
Jambojet is a regional budget airline that currently flies to six destinations from its hub in Nairobi – Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Entebbe, Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu, Malindi and Ukunda (Diani). It launched in April 2014 and it is a subsidiary of Kenya Airways. Jambojet is also the 2018 winner of the Bombardier Reliability Award for outstanding performance in dispatch reliability.