MATSAPHA: The Kingdom’s airline, Eswatini Air is now eyeing bi-weekly flights to Lusaka Zambia and looking at a third plane for short-haul passengers to serve Maputo and the Kruger National Park.
The one-year-old airline which has just been awarded with the Airline of the Year Award. The recognition, by the Africa Airline’s Association, is an appreciation for its success in promoting intra Africa connectivity by opening the most new routes in 2023.
Eswatini Air plans to build on their success by reviving their route to East Africa.
“We currently have two planes now and plan to increase our fleet to 3,” airline CEO President Dhlamini told Eswatini Radio.
“We are currently discussing bilateral service agreements that will allow us to fly direct to Lusaka, then proceed to Harare, Zimbabwe.”
Eswatini Air which launched in March 2023, initially with flights to Johannesburg, then Durban and subsequently Cape Town. Opening a route to Harare was a major breakthrough that opened the Kingdom to new horizons outside the South Africa orbit.
Dhlamini who cut his teeth as a pilot flying the Fokker 28 and Fokker 100 to Nairobi for Eswatini Air’s predecessor, Royal Swazi, says they plan to strengthen their foray into the international spaces by restoring flights to East Africa. But that is in the near future.
For now, a more pressing concern is to respond to consumer demand. A major destination is the port city of Maputo that not only enjoys a strong diaspora population of Zimbabweans but is also a major beach and islands tourism destination. “Our customers are keen for us to extend our service to Mozambique. However, we are constrained by the short distance which is unsuitable for our current aircraft.”
By air Maputo is only 97km from KM3 International Airport.
“However, we plan to secure a smaller aircraft that will allow us to fly to Maputo as well as explore a new route to the Kruger National Park’s Mbombela Airport.”
Reaching the Kruger would open another major market for bush and Big 6 wildlife tourists.
Jm/today/16.11.2024
