of FUTHI MBHELE in Durban, South Africa
KwaZulu Home Office
DURBAN, (CAJ News) – DURBAN Tourism anticipates the debut of Royal Eswatini National Airways (Eswatini Airways) in the skies of South Africa.
This after the neighboring country’s airline received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) last month.
Eswatini Air announced the news via its online platforms, noting that there was “just a little logistics” to attend to before posting a schedule.
In a press release dated December 31, 2022, the airline’s CEO, Qiniso Dhlamini, said that it was now a matter of obtaining operating permits from the aviation authorities of the countries in which Eswatini plans to operate.
I was hoping that the start of operations date would be announced soon.
Eswatini Air reported last October that it was facing longer-than-expected delays in obtaining its AOC and therefore had to delay its launch until 2023.
“Eswatini Air is believed to be an authorized ground handling license holder and will provide ad hoc ground handling services to other airlines. This includes liaising with customers, selling jet fuel and shipping and handling arriving and departing aircraft,” Durban Tourism said.
“The airline has said that it intends to operate direct flights from Manzini King Mswati III International Airport to Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, as well as Harare, using its fleet of two Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft,” Durban Tourism concluded.
South Africa is the Kingdom’s largest trading partner.
– CAJ News
