New airline, Eswatini Air, plans to start scheduled services to South Africa and Zimbabwe in June.
Eswatini Air is a division of Royal Eswatini National Airways Corporation (RENAC), an operation offering air charter services, ground-handling services and a travel agency, Royal Eswatini Travel Agency (RETA).
“Not only will this facilitate trade and tourism development in the country but will also go a long way in creating job opportunities,” said Captain President Qiniso Dhlamini, CEO of Royal Eswatini National Airways Corporate and Eswatini Air. “This is our earnest endeavour to make flying accessible to everyone as well as to make our country attractive to foreign investment. In this we are fortunate to have the services of AirlinePros, one of the most reputed organisations in airline representation,” he added.
The airline’s commercial director, Xavier Mashule (formerly Air Namibia head of Commercial for 10 years, and interim CEO until 2020) said Eswatini Air’s initial focus would be on a route network covering the SADC region. The first four routes are direct, non-stop daily flights to Durban and Johannesburg and both Cape Town and Harare four times a week.
The carrier will use two 50-seater Embraer ERJ145 aircraft, chosen for their proven record in the region and the presence of a reliable support ecosystem. The cabins will be configured all economy.
Eswatini Air will play an important role in driving the country’s tourism efforts by providing connectivity
The airline should have its AOC by the end of this month and plans to commence operations in the second quarter of 2022.
The airline says it will focus on forging commercial interline partnerships and codeshare agreements with various airlines for global distribution and extended market access.
Karin Matodes, Chief Commercial Officer of Airline Pros South Africa, the airline GSA which represents the airline in South Africa said the company was tremendously excited to have the representation for the new carrier.
She said this was the company’s third representation, alongside Uganda Airlines and Air Botswana.
