German airline, the Lufthansa Group, has commenced a three times per week Frankfurt-Mbombela Kruger National Park (KNP) service, with a short stopover in Windhoek operated by Eurowings Discover.
The aircraft operating on the new route, according to Eurowings Discover, offers up to 300 seats – made up of 30 business class (full lie-flat seats), 31 in premium economy and 244 in economy.
The flights depart Frankfurt every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evening, arriving in Mbombela KNP the following afternoon. The return flights from Mbombela KNP will depart every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoon, arriving in Frankfurt the following morning.
Mbombela’s Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) is a 50-minute drive to Kruger National Parks’ Numbi Gate.
Kruger Mpumalanga is the seventh leisure destination offered by Eurowings Discover in Africa after already flying from Frankfurt to Mombasa, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Windhoek, Victoria Falls and Kilimanjaro.
Lufthansa Group increased its Eurowings Discover service to seven weekly flights between Frankfurt and Windhoek, as a year-round service, with a further increase to 10 weekly flights from July to mid-September 2022. The airline also included the introduction of the Victoria Falls via Windhoek route.
In the recent past, three major global airlines, Qatar Airways and Ethiopian Airlines, reintroduced flights to Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport (HKIA), with additional frequencies.
Airlink is planning to introduce more routes via Namibia, while Air Zimbabwe and FlySafair are planning to launch flights to Windhoek.
According to Hospitality Association of Namibia (HAN) September figures, Germany, Switzerland and Austria continued to supply more international tourists who visited Namibian hospitality establishments nationwide, accounting for 43.2% followed by France (7.1%), South Africa (6.1%), UK and Ireland (4.8%) and Italy (3.7%).
The Bank of Namibia has projected the hotels and restaurants sector to grow by 6.5% in 2022 as the sector continues to recover from the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, supported by increased international arrivals and higher room occupancies.
