FlySafair gets greenlight to commence flights into Zimbabwe

South Africa’s only-remaining low-cost carrier, FlySafair, has received route rights to fly to 11 new international destinations, including long-sought approval to serve Zimbabwe

The Air Services Licensing Council of South Africa (ASLC) also has approved FlySafair’s June 2022 application to operate flights from Cape Town  and Johannesburg to Gaborone,Livingstone  and Lusaka ,Luanda,Maputo and Victoria Falls.

 In addition, the airline has received approval for frequencies from Johannesburg to Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Nairobi (Kenya), and Mahe in Seychelles, as well as between Cape Town and Windhoek. Its application for routes between Johannesburg and Harare (Zimbabwe), Windhoek, and Zanzibar (Tanzania) and additional frequencies Mauritius (where it already operates twice weekly) are still pending.

FlySafair Executive Manager and Chief Marketing Officer Kirby Gordon said that the company will; now focus on plans to put all necessary arrangements in place ahead of commencement of flights.

“While this is a big milestone, there is still a fair amount of work ahead of us from an operational perspective,” stated . “With the ASLC approvals in hand, FlySafair can now engage the relevant airport and civil aviation authorities in each market and begin planning its flight schedules.”

The budget carrier will increase capacity and competition on regional destinations within Southern Africa, many of which have been constrained by the departures of previous route right holders, including Comair (South Africa), South African Airways, and Mango Airlines.

Since the beginning of 2022, FlySafair has added four new B737-800s to its current schedule with one more on the way in January 2023, the airline said. The carrier is gradually up-gauging its fleet from B737-400s.

“While the new capacity forms part of the airline’s long-term growth plans, it’s expected that the additional seats will help to stabilise domestic flight prices going into the busy holiday season,” Gordon added.

FlySafair launched its first international flight to Mauritius on March 8, 2022. The route was first awarded at the end of 2019 but had to be postponed twice due to COVID-19 travel bans.