Swazi Airways (Manzini King Mswati III International) plans to commence scheduled passenger operations in November with regional 50-seat aircraft, Flightglobal reports.
At first, the carrier intends to maintain operations from its base at Manzini King Mswati III International to Cape Town International, Durban King Shaka and Harare International. Flights to Dubai International and Mumbai International are planned with larger aircraft at a later date. Initially, the airline was to launch operations in February this year with a leased B737-500.
Swazi Airways is entirely owned by the Swazi state and is the official successor to Royal Swazi National Airways (Manzini Matsapha) which collapsed in 1999. While the government has already partnered Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) in establishing Swaziland Airlink (Manzini King Mswati III International), which maintains operations between Manzini and Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, it has been unhappy at international carriers' response to the new Manzini King Mswati III Int'l airport which has remained largely under-utilized since its opening in 2014. As such, the state resolved to set up its own airline to help stimulate demand for Swaziland as a transit hub for southern Africa.
