Low-cost carrier Fastjet has been granted an Air Service Licence (ASL) by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).

The licence clears the way for Fastjet to apply for the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) which, once received, will allow the airline to operate domestic flights within Kenya, putting it into direct competition with Fly540 and Kenya Airways’ Jambojet.

The development comes a few days after Fastjet was granted an AOC for the Zimbabwe aviation market, with expectations for a similar breakthrough in Zambia before the year ends.

“Following recently announced progress towards the Zambia AOC and the receipt of our AOC in Zimbabwe last week, today’s [Monday] announcement signals a very substantial acceleration in the development of the Fastjet network and our future growth plans,” Ed Winter, Fastjet Kenya’s chief executive said.

With its hub in Dar es Salaam, the London Stock Exchange-listed Fastjet flies within Tanzania as well as Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Malawi. The airline is also eyeing other African markets including Rwanda, eastern DR Congo and South Sudan.

Kenya had since last year refused to give FastJet Tanzania rights to fly the Dar es Salaam-Nairobi route.