Kasane, the Caravans and the Savuti strips
Flying to Chobe: Kasane flights, the Savuti airstrips and the Victoria Falls option
Chobe has something Moremi lacks: an international airport ten minutes from the park gate. Kasane (BBK) takes a daily jet from Johannesburg, and from its apron light aircraft fly on to the Savuti, Linyanti and Nogatsaa camps. Here is the air layer as published on 4 October 2026, and when you can skip it.
If you only want the answer
Fly Airlink from Johannesburg to Kasane: flight 4Z306 leaves at 11:50 and lands at 13:40 every day on the November 2026 schedule, and Kasane is 5.6 km from town and about 2.5 km from Sedudu Gate, so you can be on an afternoon boat cruise the day you land. For the Savuti and Linyanti camps your lodge books a light aircraft on from Kasane or Maun, about 35 to 50 minutes in the air, with luggage capped at 20 kg in a soft bag including hand luggage. If Kasane fares or times do not suit, Victoria Falls (114 km) and Livingstone (80 km) are both under two hours' drive plus a border.
Kasane (BBK): the scheduled flights in 2026
Kasane International Airport (IATA BBK) sits 5.6 km by road from the town centre and about 2.5 km in a straight line from Sedudu Gate, so a midday arrival can be inside the park the same afternoon. Its immigration desk works 06:00 to 18:30 every day under the April 2025 border list, so charter arrivals have to land inside that window. Wilderness Air keeps a lounge there for its guests, according to its May 2026 information sheet.
The one reliable daily jet is Airlink from Johannesburg. Its November 2026 schedule, linked from the airline's own schedule page, shows flight 4Z306 leaving Johannesburg at 11:50 and landing in Kasane at 13:40, and 4Z307 leaving Kasane at 14:15 and landing in Johannesburg at 15:55, every day of the week, on a 74-seat Embraer 170. There is no direct Cape Town flight to Kasane in that schedule: Cape Town travellers connect through Johannesburg, or fly Airlink to Victoria Falls six days a week and drive the last 114 km.
Air Botswana lists Kasane as a destination, but its own online schedule tool answered "no scheduled flights" for every city pair we tried on 4 October 2026, including Gaborone to Johannesburg, so the tool looks broken rather than the network empty. Flight aggregators show Kasane to Maun four times a week in October 2026, leaving at 10:30 for a flight of 45 to 60 minutes, and Kasane to Gaborone twice a week in the evening. Treat those as leads to confirm in the airline's booking engine. One aggregator also flags a Kasane to Johannesburg service ending on 18 October without naming the airline, and CemAir shows no Kasane flights scheduled for next month.
| Route | Airline | Times and days | Status on 4 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg–Kasane | Airlink 4Z306 | Dep 11:50, arr 13:40, daily | Airline's own November 2026 schedule |
| Kasane–Johannesburg | Airlink 4Z307 | Dep 14:15, arr 15:55, daily | Airline's own November 2026 schedule |
| Kasane–Maun | Air Botswana | Dep 10:30, 4 a week | Aggregator data; confirm when booking |
| Kasane–Gaborone | Air Botswana | Evening, 2 a week | Aggregator data; confirm when booking |
| Kasane–Victoria Falls | Mack Air | Dep 11:00, arr 11:20, daily | Operator's own page, footer dated 2025 |
| Victoria Falls–Kasane | Mack Air | Dep 12:00, arr 12:20, daily | Operator's own page, footer dated 2025 |
Southern African schedules move at short notice. Airlink times are from its November 2026 schedule guide; reconfirm days and times when you book, not from a guide page, ours included.
Light aircraft to Savuti, Linyanti and Nogatsaa
The Riverfront lodges in and around Kasane need no small plane at all: Chobe Game Lodge and the Kasane hotels are a short road transfer from the airport. The light aircraft matter for the interior. Mack Air, based in Maun and Kasane, lists a Savute group of airstrips serving Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge, Ghoha Hills, Nogatsaa Pans, Savute Safari Lodge and SKL's Camp Savuti, and a Linyanti group serving King's Pool, DumaTau and Wilderness Savuti. Those three Linyanti camps sit in the private Linyanti concession outside the national park, despite the names.
These are shuttles and charters, not timetabled flights: the operator builds the day's routing around who is going where, and the lodges arrange the seat when you book your stay. Neither Mack Air nor Wilderness Air publishes seat prices online; both quote on request. The flight times below are the lodges' own figures, gathered on 4 October 2026, and they show how much sand a flight saves: Ghoha Hills puts the road transfer from Kasane at about three hours against 35 minutes in the air.
| Camp | How guests arrive | Time, as the lodge publishes it |
|---|---|---|
| Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge | Own airstrip and helipad | 40 min from Kasane, 50 min from Maun |
| Camp Savuti (SKL) | Savuti airstrip, then 20–40 min by road | About 40 min from Kasane or Maun |
| Ghoha Hills Savuti Lodge | Light aircraft, then 40 min by road; or helicopter | 35 min from Kasane, 50 min from Maun; helicopter 48 min |
| Nogatsaa Pans Chobe Lodge | Light aircraft from Kasane, then 8 min by road; or helicopter | Helicopter 24 min from Kasane |
| Camp Linyanti (SKL) | Saile airstrip, then about 2 h by road | About 90 min flight |
| Chobe Game Lodge | Road from Kasane Airport | No flight needed |
Savute Safari Lodge does not name its airstrip on its own page; Mack Air lists it in the Savute group. Camps in the Linyanti, Kwando and Selinda concessions outside the park fly from Maun or Kasane to their own strips.
The 20 kg soft-bag rule
Pack for the Caravan, not the jet. Mack Air requires soft-shell baggage no larger than 30 cm wide, 42 cm high and 70 cm long, with a maximum of 20 kg per person including hand luggage. Wilderness Air's May 2026 sheet sets the same 20 kg (44 lb) including hand luggage, with bags no larger than 30 x 35 x 70 cm, and asks passengers over 100 kg to give their weight in advance for flight planning.
Wilderness Air flies the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, which seats 12, and the smaller Cessna 210, so the hold really is that small. Camera gear counts towards the 20 kg. The working pattern is a soft duffel for the bush and anything else left behind in Kasane or Maun; ask your lodge or the air operator where excess luggage can wait when you book, not on the apron.
Victoria Falls and Livingstone as alternatives
If Kasane's single daily jet does not fit your plans, two bigger airports sit within reach by road. Airlink flies Johannesburg to Victoria Falls twice daily and Johannesburg to Livingstone once daily on its November 2026 schedule, plus Cape Town to Victoria Falls six days a week. From Victoria Falls Airport it is about 114 km and 1 h 35 of driving to Kasane, through the Kazungula Road border; from Livingstone Airport about 80 km and 1 h 10, over the Kazungula Bridge.
The arithmetic works for a same-day start. A traveller landing in Victoria Falls at 11:45 can be in Kasane by mid-afternoon, in time for the 15:00 boat cruises that Kasane operators run; one landing in Kasane at 13:40 is ten minutes from most lodges. Mack Air's 20-minute shuttle from Victoria Falls, at 12:00 daily on its own page, saves the border queue if it still runs. Other airlines into Victoria Falls and Livingstone are not covered on this page.
| Airport | Airlink, November 2026 | Road to Kasane | Border, Botswana side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria Falls (VFA), Zimbabwe | From Johannesburg 4Z492 10:00–11:45 and 4Z494 11:35–13:20, daily; from Cape Town 4Z390 09:45–12:40, six days a week | 114 km, ±1 h 35 | Kazungula Road, 06:00–20:00 |
| Livingstone (LVI), Zambia | From Johannesburg 4Z482 10:50–12:35, daily | 80 km, ±1 h 10 | Kazungula Bridge, 06:00–22:00 |
Do you need to fly at all?
For the Riverfront, flying only gets you to Kasane; the park starts 7 km later by road. For Savuti and Linyanti, the plane replaces four to five hours of sand each way, and that is the real decision. Self-drivers never need a light aircraft: no public campsite in Chobe has an airstrip for visitors, and the 4x4 is the safari.
- Riverfront stay in Kasane or at Chobe Game Lodge: fly to Kasane, then road. No small plane needed.
- Savuti or Nogatsaa lodge: the light aircraft saves three to five hours of sand each way, and the lodge books it.
- Self-drive camping at Ihaha, Savuti or Linyanti: drive. The campsites have no airstrip, and the vehicle carries your fuel and water.
- Coming from Victoria Falls: the road takes about an hour and a half plus the border, and the Mack Air shuttle is the alternative if it still operates.
- Everyone flying on into the park: 20 kg, soft bag, hand luggage included. Sort it before you leave home.
Something this page does not answer?
Kasane has one daily jet and a handful of thinner links. If the dates you want are not covered, ask.
Ask us. We answer questions about the park itself, and we can usually tell you which camps work on one route and who to write to. If what you want is a trip someone else arranges, we will say so and hand you to an operator we know, and we earn a commission if that becomes a booking.
Nothing on this site sits behind the form. Every figure we have is already on the page.
Sources
- Airlink flight schedule guide, November 2026 (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Airlink, published flight schedule page (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Air Botswana, Kasane destination page (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Mack Air, scheduled service Kasane to Victoria Falls (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Mack Air, destinations (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Mack Air, luggage policy (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Wilderness Air information sheet, 26 May 2026 (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Department of Immigration and Citizenship: Botswana ports of entry, April 2025 (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Ghoha Hills Savuti Lodge and Nogatsaa Pans (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- Camp Savuti (checked 4 Oct 2026)
- SKL Group: Camp Linyanti (checked 4 Oct 2026)