Sometimes people unexpectedly find themselves in the aviation business.
When Wilderness Safaris began giving tours in some of Africa’s most remote areas in 1983, it was a modest operation, driving clients out into the bush and bringing them back.
Today, the Gaborone, Botswana-based ecotourism company moves tour groups among dozens of luxury camps spread over a vast area. To get customers around quickly, giving them the best opportunities to see big game animals in their natural habitat, it depends on Wilderness Air, its in-house flying service.
While the airplanes were initially used for basic transport between camps, they eventually became an integral part of tour itineraries, giving clients aerial views of landscapes and wildlife. After years of arranging flights with outside operators, Wilderness Safaris started its aviation unit in 1991.
“Initially, we only operated simple connections in and out of Wilderness Safaris’ secluded camps, but as we grew, we realized that our flights are an integral part of a guest’s transformative wilderness journey,” says Alex Henderson of Wilderness Air Group Support.
Today, the company owns more than 26 aircraft including Cessna 208B Caravans, 206s, 210s and the twin turboprop F406. Because tour groups often move between activities that are hundreds of miles apart, the airplanes allow them to spend more time on-site and less in transit. The company also gains flexibility to schedule more activities each day. During a normal tourism season, the fleet includes more than 40 pilots who make about 70 daily trips.
While the global coronavirus pandemic has hurt tourism, the company has a positive outlook.
“We obviously had to be adaptable to the continuous changes and challenges that came our way during COVID-19 and subsequent travel lockdowns,” Henderson says.
“But we are optimistic that travel to Africa will return this year and that we will be able to grow our operations to this scale again in the future.”
