Swaziland airline on the cards

Swaziland’s new airline will f ly to 10 destinations in Africa and the Middle East. “The airline will f ly to destinations such as the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana, among other [destinations],” Solomon Dube, director of the Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority, said earlier this month. But there are questions around its viability. A Business Report article says that to avoid writing off the new R3bn airport the Swazi government has no alternative to running a link airline. The article further quotes the manager of a freight-forwarding firm in Manzini who reportedly said demand for air freight into and out of Swaziland was negligible and air passenger numbers were also limited. Swaziland’s new R3bn international airport, located in Sikhupe, 90 minutes from Mbabane, became fully operational in December 2014. News24 reports regional airlines are shunning the new airport, with no scheduled services announced.