FlySafair, the expanding South African airline, plans to further capitalize on opportunities arising from the demise of domestic counterparts Mango and Comair by extending its route map to include destinations in Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Currently offering services to two international points, Mauritius and Zanzibar, Tanzania, the airline plans to add four new routes departing from Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), with operations set to commence in October.

Daily flights to Zimbabwe’s capital Harare will start on Oct. 2, alongside a 4X-weekly service to Livingstone, located in southwestern Zambia. FlySafair will then begin operations to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on Oct. 3, offering flights 3X-weekly. Subsequently, on Oct. 5, the airline will extend its network to Mozambique's capital Maputo, with a 4X-weekly service.

“Plans for these routes have been in the pipeline for several months now,” says Kirby Gordon, chief marketing officer at FlySafair. “Tourism in Africa is definitely on the road to recovery. We hope to help play our part in growing the tourism industry both at home and abroad by connecting people through our passion for aviation.”

FlySafair has undergone a period of rapid growth in recent years, benefiting from gaps in the market left by the exit of South African Airway’s (SAA) LCC subsidiary Mango in July 2021 and privately owned Comair in May 2022. According to data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser, FlySafair is offering 196,000 weekly seats across 16 routes for the week commencing Aug. 7, compared with 89,500 seats and 11 routes at this time in 2019.

The airline operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet of 54 aircraft, comprising 43 737-800s, eight 737-400s, two 737-400Fs and one 737-800F.

The latest schedules filed with OAG show that all four routes being launched by FlySafair from JNB are currently served. Air Zimbabwe, Airlink and SAA serve Harare; Airlink serves Livingstone; Airlink, LAM - Mozambique Airlines and Turkish Airlines serve Maputo; and Airlink, Cemair, Fastjet Zimbabwe, and SAA serve Victoria Falls.