FlySafair now flying from Johannesburg to the Kruger National Park

FlySafair, South Africa’s leading low-cost airline, has announced another milestone in its ongoing bid to enable local and international customers to travel around South Africa safely and affordably. This month, the airline launched a new route from Johannesburg to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) in Nelspruit, also sometimes referred to as Mbombela Airport.

The new route is a natural progression from the launch of its connection between Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) and KMIA in April of this year. As with that route, the Johannesburg to Nelspruit route is intended to enable international tourists to reach prime South African tourist destinations more easily, with the Kruger National Park being a firm favourite.

It will also enable international guests arriving at OR Tambo to fly to the Kruger National Park affordably, with tickets starting at just R950 (51 USD or 40 GBP).

”With this new route, we want to make it easier for our customers to reach the destinations of their choice as smoothly as possible,” explains Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.

This connection is particularly useful to FlySafair’s long list of interline partners, including KLM, Air France, Qatar, Emirates, Air Seychelles, Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Proflight (Zambia) and Condor.

This will make it considerably smoother for travellers on those airlines to book from their international carrier to their KMIA-bound flight on FlySafair, with protections on any delays to their journeys.

Furthermore, the new route and these agreements are another step by the airline to foster growth in the South African economy. According to the The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) the South African Travel & Tourism’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is  set to drive the national economic recovery. The WTTC’s Economic Impact Report predicts that South African Travel & Tourism sector will grow at an average rate of 7.6% annually over the next decade, vastly outpacing the  1.8% growth rate of the country’s overall economy.

”It has become abundantly clearer that travel and tourism is a driving force of economic growth in the country. Our beautiful country has significant attractions to tourists, with the Kruger National Park being particularly highly ranked. Thus, it makes sense to create new routes so that tourists can have ready access to prime attractions like Cape Town and the Kruger National Park,” explains Gordon.

Both the Cape Town to Mpumalanga route and this latest link from Johannesburg are key to continuing the positive momentum that South Africa’s tourism sector has been enjoying this year. According to Statistics South Africa, tourist arrivals have increased 15.4% from January to March this year, when compared with the same period in 2023, bringing 2.4 million tourists to our shores in just those three months.

Furthermore, as reported by sagoodnews.co.za, the sector’s contribution to GDP could reach more than ZAR 554.6 billion (7.4% of the total economy), in the next eight years. This would give the country’s economy a much-needed boost of almost R287 billion.

‘’This route is not only good business sense for us as an airline, but also yet another way FlySafair is demonstrating our continued commitment to playing our part in building our country’s critical travel and tourism sector,” concludes Gordon.

New Route Flight Details starting 2^nd of August 2024:

Day of Week	Johannesburg OR Tambo to Kruger Mpumalanga			Kruger Mpumalanga to Johannesburg OR Tambo
	Flight Number	Departs	Arrives	Flight Number	Departs	Arrives
Fridays Sundays	FA 672	11:15	12:10	FA 673	12:45	13:40