Eswatini Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Eswatini, is considering increasing capacity to Johannesburg, and that could potentially be with a new service to Lanseria International Airport.

This plan is part of the airline's broader strategy to eventually fly to all the countries in the SADC, the airline’s Commercial Director, Getaneh Woldemichael told Simple Flying at last month’s AviaDev Africa conference held in Windhoek.

He said as Johannesburg was a major regional hub, it was the airline’s key route, and he felt that converting some road users to air might increase the carrier’s frequencies. He also believed OR Tambo was already well served by Eswatini Air and its competitor.

“We might be looking at Lanseria to give travellers an alternative, especially those visiting Pretoria and the northern suburbs," said Woldemichael.

“We have a mandate to deepen the integration to all the SADC countries, so they are on the cards. We are looking at some destinations and evaluating which ones are easy to mature within two to three years. We are considering adding a number of new routes in 2025.”

The airline sees opportunities to expand into East Africa and the Middle East due to existing business and leisure travel links.

Eswatini Air started operations in March 2023. According to simpleflying.com, the carrier's traffic volumes experienced significant growth between March 2023 and 2024, as the new operations made air travel to and from the kingdom cheaper and more accessible.

Eswatini Air offers 18 weekly flights from Manzini King Mswati III International Airport to South Africa, including 13 weekly to Johannesburg, three weekly to Cape Town and two weekly to Durban.