The scheduled flight from the Kruger Mpumalanga  International Airport in South Africa to Livingstone in Zambia (for Victoria Falls) is now becoming more established.  Though it’s expensive, the big advantage is that you usually save on having to have an overnight hotel room in Johannesburg, as well as the airport to hotel transfers.

However it’s important to note two things:

1)    Look at the flight times. The KMIA flight departs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11:35 and arrives in Livingstone at 13:50. The Livingstone flight departs on the same days at 14:20 and arrives in KMIA at 16:45. This means that you can just about enjoy a shortedned game drive at your Kruger safari lodge and then fly to KMIA in time for the flight to Livingstone, thus not wasting any safari time. BUT if you fly from Livingstone to KMIA, you cannot get to your game lodge in time for your safari… so you know which route I will always recommend…

2)    KMIA airport is surprisingly far from the private game reserves of the Sabi Sands and Timbavati. It takes at least 1½ to 2 hours by road from the Sabi Sands lodges, more from Timbavati so if you want to enjoy a final game drive on the morning of departure,  you will need to fly by light charter from your safari lodge to KMI airport. We can easily arrange this and it doesn’t cost much more than a road transfer.

PS: The Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport is also called  KMIA for short,  or even Nelspruit Airport, as its also still known – just to really confuse you!