A Yellow Wings Cessna Grand Caravan, 5Y-YWA, parked on a red murram airstrip in the savannah at golden hour

Charter flights from Wilson Airport, Nairobi

The road to the Mara takes six hours. We take forty minutes.

Yellow Wings is a Kenyan charter airline at Wilson Airport, Nairobi. Our Cessna Grand Caravans fly safari guests, business teams, film crews, medical evacuations and special missions into more than 500 airfields across East Africa, and beyond when you need it.

1998: First air operator certificate, for one two-seat Super Cub.
4 Caravans: One aircraft type, so every pilot and engineer knows every aircraft.
500+ airfields: In Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and beyond, most of them unpaved.
2 pilots: On every flight. The Caravan only needs one.

07:00 Wilson Airport
Wheels upbefore the traffic.
07:40 Keekorok, Masai Mara
The camp's caris at the strip.
08:00 Masai Mara
Firstgame drive.

Land at the lodge. Your safari starts at the camp's own strip, not at the nearest city.

We fly guests from Wilson and JKIA to the Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo, Laikipia, Samburu, the coast and Turkana, and across the border to the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Zanzibar and Uganda's parks. The camps know which strip to meet you at. So do we. Tell us where you're staying and we'll build the flights around your transfers, your customs stops and your connections.

Safari Flights

What we do

Safari Flights
From Wilson to the camp's own strip. The first game drive is out of the window.
Corporate Charter
To the site and back, the same day.
Medevac
With local air-ambulance partners, from strips the jets can't use.
Special Missions
Flight inspection and surveillance, from Africa to Asia.
Aerial Filming
Camera mounts, wind deflectors and pilots who know what "one more pass" means.
Where we fly
500 airfields and counting. Probably including yours.

Some of the shortcuts we know.

Most itineraries in East Africa go back through Nairobi between parks. Many don't need to.

All routes

Greetings fromArusha
Wilson → Arusha, about 50 min.
No stop at Kilimanjaro for customs any more.
Nairobi to Arusha, direct.
Read the route
Greetings fromthe Mara
Mara → Kisumu, 35 min. Customs.
Kisumu → Tanzania, 45 min.
Then any strip in the Serengeti.
The Mara to the Serengeti, via Kisumu.
Read the route
Greetings fromthe coast
Mara → Mombasa. Customs.
Mombasa → Zanzibar.
Plains before lunch. Beach by tea.
The Mara to Zanzibar, via Mombasa.
Read the route
Greetings fromthe bush
Customs at Isiolo, Lokichoggio, Lamu,
Malindi, Mombasa, Kisumu or Wilson.
The border starts wherever you are.
Clearing out of Kenya from the bush.
Read the route

Two pilots. Every flight.

The Cessna Caravan is certified to fly with one pilot,and most operators fly it that way.We never have.

Two pilots. Every flight. The law only asks for one.

The usual way

One pilot

On the flight deck: One pilot, as the Caravan's certificate allows; 1
Experience: The licence minimum
Training: What the regulations require
Engines: The manufacturer's schedule

The Yellow Wings way

Two pilots

On the flight deck: Two pilots, on every sector; 2
Experience: At least 1,500 hours on the Caravan for each pilot, with instrument and night ratings; 1,500 h
Training: Extra simulator training, overseen by our founder, a flight instructor with more than 12,500 hours; 12,500 h
Engines: Overhauled in Switzerland every 3,800 hours; compressor-washed every 100, injectors cleaned every 400; 3,800 h

Two pilots fly every Yellow Wings sector, and each has at least 1,500 hours on the Caravan, with instrument and night ratings. They train in the simulator on top of what the regulations require, and our founder, a flight instructor with more than 12,500 hours, still oversees their training himself.

The engines get the same treatment. They're overhauled in Switzerland every 3,800 hours, compressor-washed every 100 and have their injector nozzles cleaned every 400.

We've flown since 1998 without an accident.

Safety & Approvals

Licensed on both sides of the border.

Yellow Wings holds a full Tanzanian air service licence. We can leave as soon as you're ready, without waiting on a permit, and clear customs at small airports instead of the big international ones.

At home, we fly under our own Kenyan air operator certificate, and an independent auditor checks our safety programme.

	Approval	Issued by	Number
Fly	Air Operator Certificate	Kenya Civil Aviation Authority	On request
Cross the border	Air service licence	Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority	On request
Audited	Independent safety audit	ARGUS	On request
Insured	Combined liability	London underwriters	US$20 million

Sunrise over Nairobi from a Caravan climbing out of Wilson

Safety & Approvals

Where we fly

From Lamu to Lokichoggio, and most of the grass in between.

Straight-line times from Wilson at our 150-knot planning speed.

Where we fly

Every litre of Jet A-1 we burn is offset through Wildlife Works' Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project, verified under Verra. It protects more than 500,000 acres of forest between Tsavo East and Tsavo West, and brings carbon income to more than 100,000 people who live around it.

Responsibility

Careers

Start at the desk. Finish in the left seat.

Karan Dhanjal joined Yellow Wings in 2018 as an intern, doing pilots' paperwork and helping the ground crew. In 2022 he became a first officer. In October 2023 he became a captain. Randy Shiyukah joined as a pilot in 2021 and became Chief Pilot two years later. We're small enough to notice people, and we fly enough to need them.

Careers at Yellow Wings