ν Staff Reporter
FlyNamibia, the independent domestic airline, has announced a new route between Windhoek and Victoria Falls. This development opens the sky for round-trip multi-destination travel in southern Africa for FlyNamibia, which is Airlink’s franchisee partner.
It is the first scheduled air service between the two destinations and lets passengers fly directly between iconic tourist locations, like from Cape Town to central Namibia to Victoria Falls to Kruger National Park, all on a single ticket. In doing so, this route, and others anticipated in the near future, actually reduces travel time, letting business and leisure travellers spend more time where they want to be, instead of undertaking circuitous routings with connections through hub airports.
“By connecting Windhoek and Victoria Falls, under this agreement, FlyNamibia is creating new opportunities for tourists and business travellers. With this route, FlyNamibia will stimulate tourism while also fostering trade, commerce and broader economic activity between Namibia and Zimbabwe,” explained Andrè Compion, managing director of FlyNamibia.
Flights on the new route are scheduled to commence from 4 April 2024 and will be operated by FlyNamibia, with modern and comfortable 50-seat Embraer 145 aircraft, flown under Airlink’s ‘4Z’ flight code.
These flights are available in the Global Distribution System (GDS), which provides reach into travel source markets around the world.
FlyNamibia operates domestic routes, linking Windhoek Eros Airport to Ondangwa, Katima Mulilo, Lüderitz and Oranjemund.
Regionally, it serves Cape Town from the Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport and Walvis Bay.
FlyNamibia Safari provides tourism shuttle connections between Hosea Kutako International Airport and Namibia’s popular tourism attractions at Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein, Etosha (Ongava and Mokuti), as well as between Eros and Rundu.
“Our partnership strategy with FlyNamibia is to maximise the opportunity to establish Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport as a gateway to other regional destinations. The new Windhoek-Victoria Falls route is the first manifestation of this, and we expect to announce more in the coming weeks and months. It will benefit our customers by making it more convenient to travel between the region’s main attractions. It also creates opportunities for our partners in the travel and tourism sector to offer new itineraries,” said Airlink CEO and managing director Rodger Foster.
Airlink and FlyNamibia established a partnership in September 2022, with Airlink underpinning the partnership by acquiring a minority shareholding in FlyNamibia.
This commercial and operational collaboration is anticipated to see FlyNamibia expand its network and schedule more destinations and flights to connect Namibia with other key markets in the region and beyond.
Airlink has consistently been South Africa’s most on-time airline over the last two years as measured by the Airports Company South Africa.
The airline has a fleet of more than 60 jetliners achieving a 92.69% average on-time performance so far this year.
Airlink is an International Air Transport Association member and accredited under its safety audit programme.