In a letter to the chairman, Colin Child, Haji-Iannou, who owns 12% of fastjet, said that he had lost faith in the management.

Chief executive Ed Winter has already announced that he is stepping down but Haji-Iannou has called a general meeting to speed up his removal.

“We do not consider that the current open-ended arrangement whereby he remains as [chief executive] until a successor is found and then remains on as a consultant for a period of one year is conducive to cost cutting,” he said.

Haji-Iannou slammed fastjet’s “ridiculously high cost base”, its high cash burn rate and the fact that its management office is in Gatwick – 4,750 miles from its main operating base in Tanzania.

The easyJet founder also wants the removal of board director Krista Bates.

Fastjet confirmed the request to convene a general meeting and said a further announcement would be made in due course.

A spokesperson said: "fastjet notes the statement published by Stelios Haji-Ioannou/easyGroup.... Since the launch of the airline in 2012, fastjet has made considerable progress towards its goal to become African’s first true low-cost pan-African airline despite facing significant challenges outside the company’s control.”