Call for inquiry into grounded Swazi Airways

MBABANE – Swaziland’s
parliament is calling for an
inquiry into the non-starting
Swazi Airways, which was to
be the last immediate hope
of salvaging the country’s
expensive but hardly
utilised King Mswati III
International Airport (KM3
Airport).
“Based on the promises
made by the airline,
which is fully financed by
government, I advised clients
that the airport would be
fully functioning for direct
air freight deliveries from
Europe by this time. It’s
not happening, and I don’t
see it happening,” Sandile
Nxumalo, a Manzini-based
business consultant, told
FTW.
Since the airport’s
opening, only Swaziland
Airlink has operated there,
with one route to and from
Johannesburg.
The good news is that
Swaziland Airlink has
remained solvent. The airline
released to FTW a memo in
2013 predicting bankruptcy
because its core client base,
business travellers, would
find it less time consuming
to drive from Mbabane to
Johannesburg than across
Swaziland to the remote
KM3.
After the airport
was opened, Swaziland
government officials hired
consultants to find out why
international air carriers
were shunning the facility.
Requesting money from
parliament to build a
new airline from scratch,
government officials told
parliament that because
Swaziland was not a primary
destination for people
f lying into Africa, a feeder
airline was required to
ferry passengers to their
destinations throughout
southern Africa. Swazi
Airways was created to be
that regional air carrier. The
process began of creating
a new airline out of the
government budget.
In February 2016, the
month Swazi Airways
announced f lights would
commence to Cape Town,
Durban Harare and
Mumbai, the firm leased
a B737-500 jet from Star
Air in South Africa. An
inaugural f light for the
media was scrubbed at the
last minute and no passenger
f lights to any destinations
ever took place. This year the
company pulled out of the
lease agreement with Star
Air at a cost of about
R500 000 due to Global
Hub, the agency that
arranged the deal.
Confused by mixed signals
that the airline was on one
hand about to purchase
rather than lease an aircraft
and, on the other hand, that
the company was requesting
new monies to pay staff as
operations wound down
in preparation for closure,
parliamentarians want an
investigation.
CAPTION
Non starter ... Swazi Airways was to be the last immediate
hope of salvaging the country’s hardly utilised King Mswati III
International Airport (KM3 Airport).