The flyafrica Group has announced that it will launch its Namibian subsidiary in September, initially operating services between Windhoek and Johannesburg.

Flights were initially intended to commence operation in February, but this was delayed, and now the airline is planning to launch on September 2, 2015 from the Namibian capital.

The airline managed to secure its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) in May from the Namibian Directorate of Civil Aviation, though the delay caused the airline’s launch date to be pushed back until September.

Namibia flyafrica will operate scheduled regional flights from Namibia to South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Windhoek to Johannesburg is the first route to be announced, with others to follow shortly.

The Windhoek to Johannesburg route is currently dominated by Air Namibia, South African Airways and British Airways.

“Namibia flyafrica is a key part of our strategy to build airlines in Africa that will combine low fares with global standards of safety and quality,” says Adrian Hamilton-Manns, Group CEO of flyafrica.com.

The start-up is part of a joint venture between Namibia’s Nomad Aviation and Mauritius-based flyafrica, and Nomad Aviation will use locally registered Boeing 737-500s to operate the flights between Windhoek and Johannesburg.

Zimbabwe flyafrica was the first of the group to commence operations, after it began serving the Victoria Falls to Johannesburg market in July 2014. Flyafrica acquired five ex-Czech Airlines Boeing 737-500 aircraft, which is the fleet currently in operation.

Flyafrica celebrated its first birthday last month, and now flies to a number of destinations in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo from its base at Harare Airport.