Pilanesberg flights?
 

Are there scheduled flights in/out of Pilanesberg? I am positive that I have flown into this aiport on private planes, but I can't remember doing so on a scheduled flight, nor can I find it on a list of SAA's destinations. I need to get to CPT on a Friday afternoon...wondering what my options are. I hope I don't have to drive to JNB and then fly from there!

I haven't done it so can't speak from experience, but Sun City is not a million miles away and may be worth considering.

Sun City and Pilanesberg are the same thing--Pilanesberg is the airport you fly to in order to go to Sun City. That's where I'll be, need to get out!

SA Airlink used to offer a scheduled service to Sun City from both Cape Town and Johannesburg but have discontinued both routes.

Sun City is an easy 2 hour drive from JIA though.

From the Sun international website:

www.suninternational.com

ACCESSIBILITY
Gauteng, the principal business area is 187 kilometres away. Johannesburg International Airport is located there, which serves all international and domestic flights. Pilanesberg Airport is only ten minutes away from Sun City.
Route of the African Sun
Sun International is in the process of launching the "Route of the African Sun" together with Nationwide Airline which will link Cape Town (The Table Bay Hotel), Sun City Resort and Victoria Falls (Royal Livingstone Hotel & Zambezi Sun Hotel). Nationwide will operate direct daily scheduled flights as follows:

Cape Town - Sun City - Livingstone - Sun City - Cape Town

The Sun City Shuttle Express
For your convenience, Sun City Resort offers a daily shuttle transport system departing to and from convenient points in the major cosmopolitan area of Gauteng province.

Departure points currently in operation are:

Johannesburg

Johannesburg International Airport
Eastgate Shopping Centre
Sandton Sun Hotel
Fourways Mall
Pretoria

Menlyn Shopping Centre
Visit the website www.afriadventures.co.za for more information, prices and departure details.
Bookings can be made online at www.computicket.com or telephone: 083 915 8000

For further information on Afri-Adventures
Telephone: 014 552 2312 or 011 908 4929.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.afriadventures.co.za
Enquiries can also be made at the Afri-Adventures office in the Welcome Centre.

Shuttles are provided by luxury, air-conditioned 16-seater shuttle coaches
The coaches are under satellite surveillance for your utmost safety.
Duration of the trip is 2-3 hours depending on traffic conditions.
Strategic partners who operate this shuttle service is Afri-Adventures (014 552 2312)
Group bookings can be arranged. (Rates and departure times to be arranged with Afri-Adventures).
Additional shuttles are arranged for Special Events at Sun City
By Air
The following International airlines use the Johannesburg International Airport regularly:

Air Mauritius
Air Namibia
British Airways
Egypt Air
KLM (Dutch)
Lufthansa (German)
LTU (German)
Malaysian Airlines
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Turkish Airlines
Virgin Atlantic
Domestic flights are catered for by the following airlines:

British Airways
Kulula Airways
National Airlines
S A Airlink
South African Airways
For domestic / international flight information: http://www.airports.co.za


By Road

Sun City’s preferred operator for all road transfers to Sun City is Afri-Adventures.

Private transfers to/from the resort can be made by calling 011 908 4929, or 014 552 2312. An email enquiry made be sent to [email protected]. Visit the website www.afriadventures.co.za for details of transfer services offered.

Johannesburg International Airport – an Afri-Adventures representative will meet guests at the arrivals hall by prior arrangement.

All transfers are provided in luxury vehicles.

Car Rental
Avis
Private Car Hire
Tel (014) 557 1584
[email protected]

Thanks Shumba--I know that you can drive to JNB in two hours from Sun City, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that since where I need to be is CPT, for a 20:45 flight to LHR. Doing the drive east/fly west thing would take at least 5-6 hours, vs. maybe a 1.5-hour flight to CPT from Pilanesberg.

Does anyone know whether this Nationwide Airline thing is operational yet?

There is no mention on the Nationwide site that they fly to NTY.

I guess it must be availability that prevents you flying directly from JNB to LHR?

See my thread in the BA forum "Foiled again trying to return from JNB!" I have managed to move up from the waitlist to a confirmed seat from CPT-LHR, but I'm still locked out of my preferred route (JNB-LHR). I am just trying to plan for what seems to be the inevitable outcome, that is, having to somehow get myself to CPT from Sun City for the evening flight.

I too checked the Nationwide website...nuts. I really cannot figure out why there are no flights to Pilanesberg. Unless there are technical/operational airport issues that are complicating matters, why doesn't anyone fly there? The two-hour drive from JNB more than doubles the time it takes to get there if you are coming from any city besides Johannesburg itself. Surely tourists go to Sun City from the rest of the country?

That was the logic. And in fact I did this very trip, CPT-NTY-CPT, last April for a short break at Tshukudu in the Pilanesberg. Very convenient. And the airport at NTY is a little gem - tiny but tastefully constructed in a bushveld idiom. Pity to see it go to waste.

But on the 3 occasions that I have flown this route the craft has always been very empty so I must assume that financial viability was an issue.

I checked with our in-house TA (Sun City is a popular conference/junket venue) and she says no one flies the route, not even charters (unles you hire the whole plane). Our folks now all do the JNB car hire schlep.

Thanks so much for checking on this. I am slightly flabbergasted, but I believe you. It's certainly in keeping with the theme of the rest of this SA trip ("what do you mean, you want to take an airplane flight??") :(

Just done the JNB - Sun City commute, picked up a rental car and drove straight to Sun City via country roads and it took two and a half hours door to door. On the way back took the N4/N1/R21 highways and it took 90 minutes. Total distance about 180 km both ways.

That puts your average speed at exactly 120 kph, which just happens to be the speed limit, right? :D I would be impressed, if it weren't for the fact that I once drove a Toyota Venture (!) from JNB to Crocodile Bridge in 3h50. An average speed of 127 kph on a route that took me throught the Elands, Montrose and Krokodilpoort mountain passes, and included a stop in Nelspruit, as well as negotiating four SAP/SADF checkpoints.

I have used just about every conceivable mode of transport to get to and from Pilanesberg, including the "luxury" shuttle (never again), limo service, hired car and air.

In the days that SA Airlink still offered a JNB-NTY service, this was the most relaxing option, but not necessarily faster than driving. The flight used to depart JNB shortly after 11 a.m., if I remember correctly, so when arriving early on a flight from Europe renting a car would get me to Pilanesberg faster than flying would.

I almost flew from CPT to NTY once, but after two go-arounds in torrential rain we continued to JNB and then HDS, which was my destination anyway. NTY is located almost at the base of the Pilanesberg caldera. On our first attempt we made a steep starboard turning descent. Through a brief gap in the clouds I was amazed to see steep hills rising up juist to our right, as the pilot tried to line up the aircraft on the extended runway centerline. The second attempt was just as exciting. I don't think NTY has much in the way of landing aids, and I suspect that the F28 I was flying in might not have been equipped with the latest EGPWS.

While waiting to depart from NTY some years ago, a SA Airlink agent came around the departure hall asking for volunteers to take a later flight. I was puzzled, because it was obvious that the plane (a J41) was far from full. When we taxied out to the departure point the reason for the request became apparent : a trench had been dug straight across the runway, reducing available length by about a third! An aborted take-off could have had interesting results.

Johan

Well I wasn't going to be late for my flight :) .

Seriously though, it seems self drive is the most reliable and probably quickest way of getting to/from Sun City. No problems if you keep to the highway, which I recommend. Tolls will cost about R13 each way (although I think they were increased slightly on 1 March).