Sable Air Request a quote

Private charter · Lanseria (HLA) · Southern Africa

Charter on your schedule — not the airline’s.

Sable Air puts two Lanseria-based turboprops — an 18-seat Beechcraft 1900D and a 9-seat King Air 200 — on your timetable: the departure hour you choose, a direct leg with the whole party in one cabin, and the aircraft held for the way back. The airlines reach most of these places too — they just don’t leave when you need them to.

Request a quote See the fleet
cross-border approximate positions Johannesburg HLA JNB Harare Bulawayo Victoria Falls Kasane Maun Tuli Lodge Gaborone Windhoek Tswalu Sishen Kimberley Bloemfontein Cape Town Port Elizabeth Durban Maputo Kruger Skukuza Vilanculos
Fleet
2 aircraft
Seats
18 + 9
Departs from
Lanseria & OR Tambo
Typical reach
5+ countries
Beechcraft 1900D ZS-OYL on the ramp at OR Tambo at dusk, air-stair door open
ZS-OYL on the ramp at OR Tambo · FAOR field elevation 5,558 ft

The fleet

Two aircraft you can name — the same airframes every trip.

Both are Pratt & Whitney–powered turboprops owned by Shock Proof Investments 239 and flown under South African Part 135 operator certificates — established commercial operators, with their crews, maintenance and safety oversight. We match the aircraft — and its configuration — to the trip: the 1900D for a whole team or a combi of people and freight, the King Air for smaller parties and strips the airlines can’t use.

ZS-OYL · tap any photo to enlarge

The group & cargo aircraft

Beechcraft 1900D

An 18-seat regional airliner with a near stand-up cabin, an onboard toilet and a large aft hold. Take the seats out and it flies as a full freighter; split the cabin and it’s a 12-seat combi with a cargo section. It moves a whole squad or crew on one aircraft, on one schedule — with the freight that has to travel alongside them.

Sports & touring squads Mine & rotation crews Freighter & combi Conferences
Passengers
up to 18
Flight crew
2
Configurations
18 pax · 12 + cargo · freighter
Cabin
near stand-up, onboard toilet
Cabin height
1.79 m
Baggage
large aft hold + lockers
Cruise speed
280 kt / 520 km/h
Max range
~1,480 nm / 2,740 km
Service ceiling
25,000 ft
Min runway
~1,100 m
Engines
2× PT6A-67D
Based
Lanseria (HLA)

ZS-LWM · tap any photo to enlarge

The nine-seat aircraft

Beechcraft King Air 200

Nine forward-facing seats in a commuter layout — a genuine nine, without the knee-to-knee facing seats of a small club cabin. A ventral cargo pod keeps baggage out of the cabin and carries rifles and gear for hunting parties. Short-field performance puts it into lodge, bush and mine strips no airline flies — landing you at the gate, not a regional terminal hours away.

Groups up to 9 Lodge & bushveld access Hunting parties Cargo pod
Passengers
up to 9
Flight crew
1–2
Cabin
9-seat commuter, forward-facing
Cabin height
1.45 m
Baggage
external cargo pod
Firearms
stowed in the pod
Cruise speed
230 kt / 425 km/h
Max range
~1,580 nm / 2,900 km
Service ceiling
25,000 ft
Min runway
~800 m
Engines
2× PT6A-41
Based
Lanseria (HLA)

Where we fly

From Johannesburg, direct — on the day and hour you pick.

Indicative block times on a direct leg from Lanseria or OR Tambo — no hub, no connection, no overnight to make a morning meeting. Plenty of these are airline routes; the point of chartering is leaving on your clock and landing nearer where you’re headed. On the King Air, gravel, grass and short strips come into play too — reserve and bush airfields the airlines can’t work.

South Africa

  • Cape Town 2h 30
  • Durban 1h 00
  • Port Elizabeth 1h 45
  • Mbombela / Kruger 0h 40
  • Skukuza 0h 45
  • Kimberley 0h 55
  • Bloemfontein 0h 50
  • Sishen / Kathu 1h 15
  • Tswalu 1h 20

Botswana

  • Gaborone 0h 35
  • Tuli Lodge 0h 55
  • Maun 1h 40
  • Kasane 1h 40

Namibia

  • Windhoek 2h 25

Mozambique

  • Maputo 1h 00
  • Vilanculos 1h 40

Zimbabwe

  • Harare 1h 50
  • Victoria Falls 1h 40
  • Bulawayo 1h 30

Times are approximate and assume a direct routing in the King Air 200; the 1900D at full load may need a fuel stop on the longer legs. Every quote reflects actual routing, payload, weather and airport hours.

How chartering works

Three steps from enquiry to wheels-up.

01

Tell us the trip

Route, dates and times, passenger count and baggage. One-way, return or a multi-leg itinerary — send what you have and we’ll shape the rest.

02

We quote the aircraft

We check aircraft and operator availability, crew and slots, permits and ground handling, then come back with an all-in price and a hold on the dates.

03

You fly

Meet planeside at the Lanseria or OR Tambo general-aviation terminal. Short check-in, bags straight to the hold, airborne minutes later — on your schedule, not a published one.

Questions

What people usually ask before they charter.

Which aircraft do we need — the 1900D or the King Air?

Mostly a headcount question. Up to nine, in a forward-facing commuter layout, the King Air suits smaller parties and lodge or bush strips. Past nine — a sports squad, a wedding party, a full crew rotation — the 18-seat 1900D takes over, with the option to split it into a smaller cabin plus a cargo section if some of what’s travelling isn’t people. Tell us the numbers and what’s coming with them; we’ll tell you which aircraft fits.

Can you fly a whole touring or sports team together?

Yes — that’s exactly the case the 1900D is built for. Eighteen seats means a squad, a choir, a golf tour or a wedding party travels as one group on one aircraft, landing together, instead of splitting across commercial connections.

Do you run recurring charters for mine or rotation crews?

Yes. Rotation schedules are one of the reasons the 1900D is in this fleet — it can run as a straight 18-seat crew shuttle, or split into a smaller cabin with a cargo section when tools and supplies need to travel with the people. Set up a regular rotation and we’ll build the schedule around it.

Can you carry freight as well as passengers?

On the 1900D, yes — pull the seats and it flies as a full freighter, including dangerous goods where needed, or keep a 12-seat cabin and dedicate the rest to cargo. The King Air’s ventral pod handles baggage and gear that shouldn’t be in the cabin. Tell us what’s travelling and we’ll configure around it.

Do you reach airstrips the airlines don’t serve?

That’s largely the King Air’s job — short-field performance gets it into gravel and grass strips at lodges, reserves and remote sites a jet or a scheduled aircraft can’t reach. Landing closer to where you’re actually going is often the whole point of chartering.

We only need this for a few weeks a year — is that a problem?

Not at all — charter is built for exactly that. A mining rotation cycle, an annual tournament, a hunting season: you book when you need the aircraft, with no standing contract or idle asset to justify in between.

Which countries can you fly to?

Beyond South Africa, both aircraft reach Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe — see the destinations map for indicative times from Lanseria and OR Tambo. Somewhere else in the region isn’t listed? Ask — if the strip can take the aircraft, we’ll quote it.

Who actually flies the aircraft?

Both are flown by an independent SACAA Part 135 operator, under that operator’s own flight crew, maintenance programme and operational control — not something arranged informally on the side.

How far ahead do we need to book?

As little as a couple of days for a straightforward domestic leg, subject to aircraft and crew availability — longer for cross-border trips needing permits, or a date in a busy season. Send the trip as early as you have it; we’ll tell you what’s realistic.

What does a quote actually include?

An all-in price for the aircraft, crew and route you asked for — we check availability, slots, permits and ground handling before coming back to you, so the number is one you can book against, not a starting point for negotiation.

About

Owned by Shock Proof Investments 239 (Pty) Ltd

Sable Air is the marketing name Shock Proof Investments 239 (Pty) Ltd trades under. Shock Proof owns both aircraft and provides them, together with maintenance, insurance and fuel — but it holds no air operator’s certificate and does not sell or operate charter flights. That is done by an independent, licensed operator.

Every flight is quoted, sold and operated under a South African Civil Aviation Authority Part 135 air operator’s certificate, using that operator’s flight crew, maintenance programme and operational control — and that operator invoices you directly. What Sable Air adds is one point of contact: we take the trip, get pricing from our operator partners, and put the best offer in front of you.

Aircraft owner
Shock Proof Investments 239 (Pty) Ltd
Company reg. no.
2010/021759/07
Sable’s role
Marketing only — every charter is sold and operated by the Part 135 operator
Flight operations
Contracted SACAA Part 135 operator
Based
Lanseria International (FALA / HLA)
Fleet
ZS-OYL (1900D) · ZS-LWM (King Air 200)

Request a quote

Send the trip and we’ll come back with a price.

The charter desk is answered 24/7 — call or message on WhatsApp any time.

Charter desk
+27 72 686 3498 WhatsApp
Email
charter@sableair.co.za
Base
General Aviation, Lanseria International Airport, Gauteng
Hours
24/7 — charter desk always on call