FlyNamibia’s safari operations manager, Marco Theron, said the flight would be from Eros International Airport in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, and Maun International Airport. The Windhoek-Maun route will offer direct flights on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
The flights will be seasonal, operating from July to November 2024.
“We are putting a big commitment on the table for the stakeholders in Maun,” Theron told a gathering of stakeholders here on Friday. “We aim to market the unique and diverse tourism offering of the two countries. “I can assure the tourism industry that we have the equipment and the necessary backup in Namibia to make the route work.”
Theron added that the Maun route is part of FlyNamibia’s expansion plans that commenced with the launch of the Victoria Falls route in April.
The Windhoek-based, privately-owned airline has flights between Eros and Victoria Falls International Airport in Zimbabwe, which were launched on April 4. That route operates on a three-day-per-week schedule covering Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It is also a seasonal route running from July to November.
FlyNamibia became a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in September last year, thereafter launching a new regional route between Walvis Bay and Cape Town in October 2023. The Cape Town route is operated in partnership with South African airline, Airlink.
Plans are also afoot for flights between Windhoek and Luanda, the Angolan capital.
Theron told the briefing session that FlyNamibia operates domestic flights from Eros to Ondangwa, Katima Mulilo, Luderitz, and Orangemund. He noted that the latter two destinations are experiencing growth in the hospitality sector due to the oil and gas prospecting boom in that region.
Meanwhile, Africa’s premier airline, Ethiopian Airlines, is scheduled to make its maiden voyage to Maun on June 10. The airline has also been operating the Gaborone/Addis Ababa route since 2016.
Africa’s largest airline will operate a thrice-weekly service between the Ethiopian capital and Maun. The route will be covered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, with a stop-over in the Zambian copperbelt city of Ndola.
Announcing Maun as the airlines’ second Botswana destination in early March, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mesfin Tasew described Maun as “a strategic addition to our network”.
“It will enable us to offer our customers a unique opportunity to explore the natural beauty and rich biodiversity of Botswana," he said. “Our new service does not only strengthen the tourism, trade and the overall socio-economic ties between Botswana and Ethiopian global destinations, but it also enables us to strengthen our contribution in realising the development of air transport in the African continent.”
The Botswana Meat Commission, which has a plant in Maun, is amongst those eagerly awaiting the launch of the new route, having secured beef supply orders in the United Arab Emirates.
