While long-haul escapes and the lure of cheap flights and packages to Southern Europe or Asia will always have their appeal, there’s something undeniably special waiting just beyond our borders. Our own neighbouring countries offer a kind of magic that’s closer, richer, and often wonderfully unexpected. The magic of our own neighbouring countries is not one to be overlooked. And once in Maun (or Maputo) your horizons can really broaden. Botswana is the ultimate Bush Destination with the second largest animal migration after the crowds of Masai Mara. Yet it delivers more spectacle than just sheer animal numbers, it delivers breathtaking natural wonders from the shimmering Okavango Delta to the vast, otherworldly Salt Pans, all set against endless open skies. It’s wild, raw, and completely unforgettable.
Driving is surprisingly straightforward, but when time is short, then a 1.5 hour flight out of Joburg is a blink! Secret Getaway packages exclude domestic flights due to the incredible savings & rewards programmes available for consumers in that space already. What Secret Getaway focuses on instead is finding amazing properties that offer a unique and spectacular experience once you land.
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In order to save you some time searching for information about travelling from South Africa's major airports: Cape Town and Joburg to Botswana, below we will outline some of the best and most affordable options.
As always, google alongside tools like ChatGPT will be your best friend for the latest updates and, with their flight search tool, will give you the most up-to-date booking information if you choose to fly into Maun, the most central of the airports and therefore the one with the most frequent flights for Okavango & Makgadikgadi pans; Kasane - for Southern locations, especially Chobe; or the capital Gabarone’s Sir Seretse Khama International Airport.
For this article, we focus on Maun with its ideal access to the Okavango Delta & the Makgadikgadi, making it Botswana’s “Tourism Capital”.
For this article, we focus on Maun, with its effortless access to the Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi, making it Botswana’s tourism capital.
Flying from Cape Town to Maun
The direct flying time is about 2.5 hours on Airlink, but if you opt for the more frequent flying dates that include a stop at O.R. Tambo, you are likely to double that time, if not triple it.
Airlink
Airlink is a privately owned regional carrier. It is a small aircraft flying the route with only 40 passengers and it allows 20kg of checked luggage, 7kg of hand luggage (and a sporting equipment allowance). What is worth bearing in mind is that the connecting flights within Botswana to the actual lodge may have stricter baggage constraints due to the even smaller size of those planes.
Airlink offers the only direct Cape Town to Maun option, and with some flights going for as low as R8,000 return, it’s hardly worth the hassle going via Gabarone or Joburg. The daily scheduled flight times are CPT to Maun departing at 10h35 (arriving at 13h10) and Maun to CPT departing at 13h40 (arriving at 16h20).
Website | Booking page
Flying from Johannesburg to Maun
The flying time from O.R. Tambo to Maun is 1 hour and 42 min give or take a few minutes. The average cost of this flight is about R3,6k to R4,1k one way with April, May and October being the most cost-effective months to fly with 21 flights per week on average. (Reference: SkyScanner)
Airlink
Once more, Airlink is also a popular option for direct flights from Joburg. It also flies 7 days a week to Maun with a similar arrival time to the Cape Town flight of 13h45 (departing Joburg at 12h05) and the return flight departing at 14h30 (arriving in Joburg at 16h10).
However, the airlines below also offer flights and are worth looking at for a price comparison.
It is also always best to check with your destination property what time their offered transfers will take place so that you can book a flight that aligns well with that.
Air Botswana
This is the national carrier for Botswana, and it flies with the most frequency between the 2 hubs of Joburg and Gabarone. There are 120 flights each month.
Website | Booking page
Other airlines that do fly between the 2 destinations are Qatar Air and United Airlines.
Arriving in Maun
Once in Maun, you will either be met by your connecting lodge transfer by road, or by a Mack Air representative for your short-hop flight to the landing strip closest to the lodge. The connecting flights are all generally early afternoon as the regional flights land at similar times between 13h00 and 14h00.
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