Flying Safaris: The Ultimate Guide

Why go on a flying safari in Africa?

Africa is a large continent.

The US can fit into just West Africa alone (brown area), and France (purple area) is just a tiny area compared to the sheer size of the African continent. To visit the Greater Kruger Area in the eastern part of South Africa, then travel on to Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe to then visit the Victoria Falls would take more than 25 hours of driving, not counting waiting times at border crossings, delays at roadblocks, and time spent during fuel stops. Flying the same route would take you several hours instead, with no traffic jams along the way or queues at the border, and with a unique view of the African continent below you while you move from one highlight to the next.

Travel by air allows you to skip long days of road travel and its associated stress and to see more of the continent in a limited time. In addition, many of the safari lodges have their own airfield already, which makes using air travel even more logical in Africa as a means of transportation.

If you are a pilot and already have, for example, an EASA, FAA, or ICAO pilot license, you can convert that license to a South African version – giving you the opportunity to fly in Africa. If you do not have a pilot license, there are opportunities available to use air transportation to move around from one hotspot to another.

Available rental aircraft

In South Africa, the most commonly available aircraft for self-flying or rental are Cessna 172s, 182s, and Cessna 205s. Most of these aircraft are equipped with traditional 6-pack instrument panels, providing a familiar and reliable setup for pilots. The only Cirrus aircraft dealer on the entire African continent is located near Johannesburg at Lanseria Airport (FALA). However, they have ceased renting out Cirrus aircraft for multi-day safari tours, as the typical flying hours—around 2 hours per day—do not meet their operational requirements, with most of the time spent on safari activities or staying at lodges. While it is still possible to rent Cirrus aircraft occasionally from private owners in South Africa, the best availability and selection of aircraft are with the Cessnas and a few Piper Archer models, which are plentiful and primarily based around Johannesburg. For group safari tours, we also source aircraft from other regions across South Africa to ensure the best options for our travelers.

For private safari tours with larger groups, flying in a Cessna Caravan is an excellent option. These aircraft provide more space for passengers and luggage, making the journey more comfortable. The Cessna 208 Caravan is an American single-engine turboprop with fixed tricycle landing gear, designed as a short-haul regional mini-airliner and utility aircraft manufactured by Cessna. It typically seats nine passengers alongside a single pilot and offers ample luggage capacity, ensuring a smooth and spacious flying experience for larger groups.

Flying through the Namibian desert

Information for Pilots

Pilot License Validation Procedure

You can obtain a South African (SA) Private Pilot License (PPL) based on your existing foreign pilot license. The validated South African license is typically restricted to a PPL VFR-only license, valid for either 28 days or five years, as long as your original EASA or FAA license and medical remain valid. The process involves some paperwork, passing a theory exam in South African air law (for the five-year license), and completing a checkride with a South African flight instructor. The 28-day validated license is available without the need for a theory exam but limits you to a specific aircraft type and VFR flying during daylight hours within a maximum period of 28 days. We recommend aiming for the fully validated, unrestricted foreign-based license, which allows greater flexibility and the opportunity to fly with us again in the future—something many pilots choose to do. Alternatively, you can opt for both licenses: a quick 28-day license issued shortly after your checkride, and a five-year license issued later, after additional processing by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), typically at the end of your first safari in Africa, just before returning home.

Flying through the Namibian desert

The paperwork

The best way to deal with the paperwork is to arrange the paperwork well ahead of time before your actual arrival in South Africa. A copy needs to be made of several documents, such as your pilot license, medical, passport, and the last three to four pages of your logbook. In addition, you might have to request your own CAA to provide you with a letter in which they state that your pilot license record is current, valid, and up-to-date. In most cases the South African CAA will send that enquiry directly to your CAA themselves to verify the status of your license. Send us a copy of your paperwork, so we can screen it and forward it to the authorities for processing. When you then arrive, all you need to do is one air law theory exam and one checkride with an instructor before the South African license can be requested from the South African CAA. The CAA needs about two to three business days to process your documents and actually issue the license. The license is valid for 5 years and can easily be renewed for another 5 years with out having to redo the airlaw exam or another checkride. If this is your first Tour with us, keep in mind that you will have to come at least 3 to 5 (business) days earlier to get your South African pilot license issued.

Use our form to submit your documents. It can be found here.

The Famous Victoria Falls from above

The checklist below is provided for your convenience and can be installed on your smartphone (iOS or Android) to help you remember the steps involved in the validation procedure.

Checkride with a South African flight instructor

The South African PPL license you receive is based on your existing foreign pilot license. To obtain it, you'll need to pass a theory exam in Air Law (only with the five year license) and complete an initial checkride with a South African flight instructor. The checkride is designed to be straightforward and typically includes basic touch-and-go landings, a simulated emergency landing or approach to stall both in landing and clean configurations, and fundamental maneuvers such as steep turns to the left or right. It also involves an overland flight and a landing at a controlled airport. The entire checkride usually lasts between 1.5 to 2 hours of flight time with an instructor.

Besides flying in Africa, you also go on safari!

How the SA CAA deals with different aircraft types

The South African CAA works with aircraft type-specific qualifications. If you have, for example, experience flying a Cessna 172 but no experience flying the Cessna 182, you will have to either get some hours logged as pilot-in-command in your home country on the specific aircraft or you will have to do a familiarization training before you are allowed to fly on the new aircraft-type (the C182) in South Africa. In Europe, we work with class ratings, so both aircraft types C172 and C182 fall within the same class rating and nothing stops you legally from flying either the C182 or C172 other than that you might want to become familiar with it or do some additional training on the new type of aircraft. Another example is when you migrate from a Cessna 172 or, for example, a Cessna 182 to a faster and more complex aircraft such as the Cirrus SR22 Turbo. You EASA license doesn’t legally sit in the way of flying the SR22, but the insurance company might demand from you that you do some extra training or follow a Cirrus transition course before they will insure you on the aircraft as pilot-in-command. More or less the same holds true for FAA licenses, where the FAA classifies aircraft together in a group as single-engine land (SEL) or, e.g., multi-engine land (MEL) aircraft. Not so for the South African CAA, as you will see.

If you want to fly a Cessna 182, 206, or Cessna 210 in South Africa, it helps if you already have some hours on that specific type in your logbook. If you have never flown that type of aircraft before, the best and easiest thing you can do is fly some hours on that specific aircraft type at home in Europe or the US, so you can prove to have flown pilot-in-command on that type before you arrive in South Africa. Alternatively, you can do a familiarization training on type as soon as you arrive in South Africa, together with a South African instructor. If you have some hours already in your logbook on the specific type, that familiarization training is not needed as you have proof that you are already qualified back at home to fly on that type.

How best to prepare for the Air Law theory exam

We have created a free online course that you can study while still at home and which prepares you for the Soth African Air Law exam as well as for flying aircraft in Africa in general. You can find this course here. We can provide you with a theory book on South African Air Law and point you to an app for iOS / Android tablets that you can use to check that you are up to examination standards. To get a South African PPL license based on your EASA or FAA license, you will have to pass this one specific theory exam on Air Law and do a check ride with an instructor, before your South African license can be handed out to you. We strongly advise all our Tour participants to do our online course before they come to Africa.

Aircraft rental options in South Africa

We bring you into contact with an aircraft owner in South Africa who is willing to rent out his aircraft to you or to us as African Flying Adventures. Most of the aircraft owners we work with are private owners. Some of the aircraft belong to flight schools in the Johannesburg, Cape Town, or Nelspruit area. All of the aircraft are well maintained but basic. The aircraft are rented out based on block times, from off-blocks to on-blocks, and does not include the fuel (dry rate). Most aircraft owners require that you take out an excess insurance policy for the rental period and charge a minimum of 2 hours per day although that is not always enforced. On group Flying Safari Tours, the aircraft come from all over South Africa and need to be delivered to the starting point of our tour, in which case, you should budget for some additional hours of flight time on top of the trip hours themselves.

For Aircraft rental prices

We will assist you in renting an aircraft in South Africa. The prices below are solely indicative of the most common aircraft types available in South Africa and ex VAT when applicable. For flights in South Africa, we have to charge VAT on top of the rental price. For flights flown fully outside the Republic of South Africa, no VAT is charged. All prices exclude the fuel (= dry-rate) and are based on block times (off-block to on-block). Rental prices differ from one aircraft owner to another, but the table below should give you an indication of what you can expect. Most aircraft owners expect you to fly on average a minimum of 2 hours per day during the rental period, but that minimum amount is not always enforced. Again, on our group Flying Safari Tours, the aircraft come from all over South Africa and need to be delivered to the starting point of our tour, in which case, you should budget for some additional hours of flight time on top of the trip hours themselves.

Available Aircraft Types (Rentals)
No	Aircraft	Type	Price (Dry/Euro/hour)
1	Cessna 172	C172	165.00
2	Cessna 182 / Piper Cherokee 235	C182	195.00
3	Cessna 205 / 206	C206	245.00
4	Robinson R44 helicopter	R44	625.00 (wet)

Fuel prices, landing & handling fees, indemnity forms

The fuel price at Lanseria airfield (FALA) is roughly 30 to 35 Rand per litre, which is around 1,75 euro/US$1.90 per litre at the moment of writing. At some of the airports or with some fuel handlers, you are charged a bit less or more for the fuel. At some airfields, we will have to resort to arranging AVGAS fuel barrels ahead of time, in which cases the price per litre can go up to around 55 Rand per litre, all depending on the number of drums we have to order and where they have to be delivered. At some remote airfields in Namibia the price of AVGAS is also higher than average.

You will have to pay the landing fees yourselves at the major airports. At most bush airfields, there is no maintenance fee to pay. However, at almost all of the unpaved airstrips, you will need to get written permission up front from the operator of the airstrip. For the self-fly trips that we organise, we will arrange this permit for you.

There is no requirement or need for a handler at the major airports, except for at Cape Town International Airport, which we will arrange for you if you join a self-fly safari trip with us that lands there.

Satellite flight following

We actively follow all aircraft during group self-fly safari trips as well so that we can follow your aircraft on our tours with the Garmin Inreach Messenger Plus or Mini 2 satellite trackers. If you do not own one, you can rent a tracker from us.

Garmin Inreach Messenger Plus tracker

Aircraft excess insurance

If you hire an aircraft and it gets damaged, the “Excess” (or also called “Deductible”) is the amount of money you have to pay the owner upon returning the aircraft. The “Deductible” is the amount you risk, while the rest is insured. In most countries, the deductible is there to make sure you take good care of the product (= aircraft) that is insured. The “Deductible” when renting an aircraft in South Africa is usually an amount of 40.000 Rand. In South Africa, you can reinsure this “Deductible” risk for around 150,00 euro/US$162.00 per month, which is called an Excess Insurance or Deductible. Most aircraft owners want you to take out this Excess Insurance as they will insure the aircraft for you.

Backup aircraft and maintenance support

On the group self-fly safaris, our tour guides will fly along on the trip in a support aircraft. If you book an individual and custom-designed trip with us, you will most likely be flying on your own.

We can track your aircraft (flight following) through a satellite tracker datalink. Ideally, you will buy a Garmin Inreach Device, which also gives you a way to communicate through a satellite link with us through text messages.

We will take care of all the flight plan filing for you and arrange overland and landing clearances. We also have aircraft engineers willing to fly out to you in case your aircraft brakes down in the bush and to help you out. It all depends on where your aircraft brakes down on how fast they can come to help you out. This service is provided by the maintenance engineers at a charge.

Of course, we will do our best to support your trip from start to end.

Why go on a flying safari in Africa?
1. Africa is a large continent.
Available rental aircraft
Information for Pilots