FlySafair is launching a flight between Johannesburg and the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) in Mbombela.
Flights will start from R950, with hopes that the new route will allow international guests arriving in OR Tambo to fly to the Kruger National Park.
The airline said that the new route is a natural progression from the launch of the connection between Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) and KMIA in April.
”With this new route, we want to make it easier for our customers to reach the destinations of their choice as smoothly as possible,” explains Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.
The new flight route will start on Friday, 2 August 2024.
| Day of Week | Johannesburg OR Tambo to Kruger Mpumalanga | Kruger Mpumalanga to Johannesburg OR Tambo | ||||
| Flight Number | Departs | Arrives | Flight Number | Departs | Arrives | |
| Fridays to Sundays | FA 672 | 11:15 | 12:10 | FA 673 | 12:45 | 13:40 |
The new route and these agreements are another way the airline is fostering growth in the South African economy.
”It has become abundantly clearer that travel and tourism is a driving force of economic growth in the country,” said Gordon.
“Our beautiful country has significant attractions to tourists, with the Kruger National Park being particularly highly ranked. Thus, it makes sense to create new routes so that tourists can have ready access to prime attractions like Cape Town and the Kruger National Park.”
The new routes to and from the Kruger will hopefully build on the momentum in the tourism sector. Tourist arrivals increased 15.4% from January to March this year, bringing in 2.4 million tourists to South Africa.
FlySafair is not the only airline seeing an expansion, with South African Airways (SAA) planning to add 64% of new destinations from its hub in Johannesburg by April.
SAA aims to add nine destinations to its existing 14 and plans to boost the number of aircraft by 50% to 21 by March.
Interim Chief Executive Officer John Lamola added the state-owned carrier also plans to open routes to Frankfurt, Munich, London, and cities on the east coast of the US, even if these destinations will only be considered in the year ending March 2028.
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