Flights to Kruger National Park – Commercial or Charter?

Direct flights to Kruger National Park are expensive. Here’s the low down on air travel.

Commercial Flights

If you’re going to Kruger National Park from overseas (or flying within South Africa), your best bet is to fly to Johannesburg.

Johannesburg Airport, officially called O. R. Tambo International Airport, is the main air hub in South Africa. It’s also the closest major airport to Kruger National Park.

From Johannesburg Airport (and some from Cape Town and Durban), there are onward flights to:

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These flights are usually expensive though.

There’s a very good chance that getting a hire car from Johannesburg Airport and driving the rest of the way to Kruger National Park is the cheapest way to get there. This is especially true if there is at least one other person travelling with you.

Kruger National Park is about 4.5 hours’ drive (397km / 247 miles) from Johannesburg Airport.

Charter Flights

Getting a charter flight is the way to arrive in style!

Federal Air is the main charter flight operator servicing Kruger National Park. A charter flight can take you to an airstrip within Kruger National Park.

If you are on a charter flight, you will most likely be on a fly-in safari where you’ve already arranged for someone to pick you up from the airport when you arrive.

You can get charter flights to:

• Malelane Airport
• Pafuri Reserve Airstrip
• Skukuza Airfield

Skukuza Airfield is the only place within Kruger National Park where you can hire a car.

There is no public transport within the park. If you’re travelling under your own steam, you’ll need to rent a car to get around the game reserve.

Direct flights to Kruger Park are the fastest way to get into the park, but may not suit your budget.