Safair Operations

Cargo hubs & stations

Only Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Cape Town are recorded as bases; no complete station list confirmed by primary sources is available.

• JNBO.R. Tambo International AirportPrimary cargo hub

Fleet & capacity

Fleet data without unit counts: aircraft numbers could not be confirmed from S1 or S2 sources.

Special cargo

Products

Availability may vary by station, route and aircraft type.

Safair Operations (Pty) Ltd is a South African airline headquartered in Bonaero Park near Kempton Park, next to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB). The company started operations in 1965 as Tropair (Pty) Ltd and traded as Safair Freighters (Pty) Ltd from 1970. For decades Safair was one of the largest civil operators of the Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules, flying relief missions, airdrops and Antarctic operations for the United Nations, the World Food Programme and the ICRC. That era has ended: according to parent company ASL Aviation Holdings, the last Hercules left the fleet at the end of 2022, and the remaining aircraft went to Lynden Air Cargo in early 2023. Today Safair Operations is primarily the operating company behind the low-cost carrier FlySafair, which has been flying since 2014 and, by its own account, serves ten domestic destinations and five international routes. According to company statements the fleet consists of Boeing 737-800 and Boeing 737-400 aircraft; ASL additionally lists a Boeing 737-400 Combi with which Safair offers cargo capacity within Africa. For freight forwarders Safair is therefore not a freight carrier in the narrow sense, but a provider of belly capacity on the South African domestic network and a few regional routes, as well as a partner for cargo charter and leasing. In South Africa the belly capacity is marketed and handled by general sales agent Bidair Cargo under the name "FlySafair Network". Ownership is in transition: ASL Aviation Holdings, based in Swords near Dublin, lists Safair and FlySafair among its holdings; on 10 February 2026 FlySafair announced that its shareholders had signed a sale and purchase agreement with South African investment company Harith. In parallel, a regulatory process on the ownership structure has been running since the findings of the Air Services Licensing Council in early 2025. IATA designator, ICAO code and AWB prefix could not be confirmed from primary sources and are therefore left empty.

Sources

• Safair Operations – About Us · Identity, history, headquarters
• ASL Aviation Holdings – Safair · Group ownership, end of Hercules fleet, cargo offering
• FlySafair Media Centre – Pressemitteilungen · Ownership change, network, management
• Bidair Cargo – FlySafair Network · Belly cargo sales in South Africa