Eswatini Air (RN, Manzini King Mswati III International) has announced plans to debut commercial flight operations on March 26, 2023, in a three-phase approach, starting with one destination, adding another two in April, and a fourth destination thereafter.
The start-up has applied for slots at Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, Durban King Shaka, and Cape Town International in South Africa, and Harare International in Zimbabwe. Start dates and the sequence of phased-in destinations would be announced as soon as outstanding processes were finalised, the airline said in a statement.
“So far, we have received our Foreign Operator Permit (FOP) for Zimbabwe, and the FOP for South Africa is in the process. We expect to have everything regarding that smoothed out very soon.”
The airline secured its air operator certificate (AOC) from the Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority (ESWACAA) in December.
It would publish its schedules and pricing as soon as the outstanding matters were cleared. Recruitment of required personnel and training was underway.
"At the present moment, we can't set a definite date for our maiden flight as the turnaround time for the outstanding process is dependent on various factors beyond our control. We, however, envisage taking to the skies at the beginning of the next IATA season, which is 26 March 2023," the airline said.
Parent Royal Eswatini National Airways (RENAC) has been assigned the IATA two-letter code RN, while the IATA three-digit accounting prefix is 507. The ICAO three-letter designator is SZL, and "Eswatini" is the telephony designator.
The airline has a fleet of two in-house EMB-145EPs, according to the ch-aviation fleets module.
