Good news for the Kingdom of Eswatini Eswatini Air as they look to take flight just in time for Easter. Eswatini Air recently secured a Foreign Operator Permit for Zimbabwe and anticipates the same for South Africa.
Eswatini Air is poised to operate a fleet of two 50-seater aircrafts, offering direct, non-stop flights to Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and Harare. Their inaugural flight is scheduled for 26th March 2023, heading to Johannesburg from King Mswati III International Airport, which will serve as Eswatini Air’s central hub. This operation would give a much-needed boost to the country’s economy as it would increase trade and tourism between the landlocked country and its bigger Southern African counterparts.
The Manzini (Swaziland)-based airline, which received its Air Operator Certificate last December, added that it had made and tremendous progress in securing the necessary documentation to operate to the destinations they will be flying to. Among recent steps has been the assignment of the RN two-letter airline codes by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the accounting prefix 507. The International Civil Aviation Organisation has also allocated the airline the three-letter ICAO designator SZL and associated call-sign Eswatini.
Preliminary schedule
Eswatini Air has been keen to serve Harare, Johannesburg, and Cape Town. Nkambule said earlier that the carrier has applied for landing and departure slots at those destinations and systems would be configured and a schedule published as soon as these were to be secured.
Eswatini Air’s current fleet consists of a pair of Embraer ERJ-145s. The launch will be spread across three phases, starting with one destination followed by two others after one month, and a fourth destination in the final phase.
