Swazi Airways (Manzini King Mswati III International) has officially closed down and laid off all twenty-three of its staff, reports The Times of Swaziland. The carrier had planned to launch in February 2016 with a B737-300 leased from Star Air (South Africa) (BRH, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo), but never succeeded in securing its Air Operator's Certificate from the Swazi Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA).
Withdrawing from the Star Air deal reportedly cost the nascent airline USD458,020 in debts to Global Hub for securing the deal. An additional SZL4.9 million (USD361,650) had previously been paid to a US company called Sky Jet for the lease of an aircraft, however that deal fell through due to legal issues.
The state-owned passenger carrier was to be the successor to Royal Swazi National Airways (Manzini Matsapha) which collapsed in 1999. Planned destinations included Cape Town International, Durban King Shaka, Harare International, Dubai International and Mumbai International. The government hoped that the development of Swazi Airways would stimulate growth at Manzini King Mswati III International, which has been operating well below its potential 300,000 passengers per year capacity.
The only carrier currently flying out of Manzini is South African Airways (SA, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) which offers a 23x weekly service to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo operated by South African Airlink (Johannesburg O.R. Tambo).
