The Fleet

Seven aircraft.
Each chosen for the geography it serves.

We do not own these aircraft. We charter them — exactly the right one for each leg — from a network of operators we have worked with for two decades. The economics make sense; more importantly, the safety standards do too.

Turboprop

The workhorses.

The workhorse category. Turbine reliability, short-field performance, and the cabin pressurisation that separates a comfortable cross-country from a tolerable one.

Turboprop

Cessna Grand Caravan 208B

Multi-family safari movements between camps

The Caravan is what every serious African safari operator owns and the reason the Okavango works the way it does. Single PT6 turbine, fixed gear, capable of every dirt strip on the continent, and large enough for a family of nine with luggage and rifles. Slow by jet standards; perfect for the legs under 500 nautical miles where the runways are short and the geography matters.

Seats
9
Range
1070 nm
Cruise
186 kt

Turboprop

Beechcraft King Air 200

Pressurised cabin for the longer cross-country legs

Pressurised, twin-turbine, and quick. The King Air covers Johannesburg to Victoria Falls in just over two hours, Cape Town to Maun in three. We use it where the distance asks for it and a smoother, quieter ride is worth the higher operating cost. Cabin altitude stays comfortable; conversations stay civil.

Seats
8
Range
1580 nm
Cruise
290 kt

Turboprop

Pilatus PC-12NG

The flagship — long range, short fields, full pressurisation

Swiss-built, single turbine, executive interior, and the rare combination of long range with the short-field performance Africa demands. The PC-12 reaches Mahale from Nairobi without a fuel stop and lands on strips most jets cannot. We use it when guests want the comfort of pressurisation, the speed of a turboprop, and the access of a bushplane in one airframe.

Seats
9
Range
1845 nm
Cruise
285 kt

Piston

The light end.

Light, simple, and the right tool for the legs that the bigger aircraft cannot economically fly. Single and twin-engine reciprocating power.

Piston

Cessna 210

Short hops between bushveld strips and the Garden Route

The Centurion is the workhorse of African private air. High wing for visibility on game flights, retractable gear for the speed, and short-field performance that lets it land on strips other aircraft cannot. We use it for legs under three hours where the view from the window is part of the journey.

Seats
5
Range
900 nm
Cruise
170 kt

Piston

Beechcraft Baron 58

Twin-engine reassurance over water and wilderness

Twin engines for the legs that need them — Cape Town to Plettenberg, Maun to Kasane, Wilson to Mara. The Baron carries five comfortably and is the aircraft we choose when the weather is unpredictable or the terrain unforgiving. Quieter than the Cessna and faster on the longer hops.

Seats
5
Range
1480 nm
Cruise
200 kt

Helicopter

When the moment asks for it.

Used sparingly. The right tool for vineyard landings, gorge transfers, and the kind of access that only rotor-wing can deliver.

Helicopter

Robinson R44

Champagne landings, vineyard tours, gorge transfers

Light, agile, and the right tool for the moment when a fixed-wing aircraft is excessive. The R44 is what we use to land at a vineyard for lunch, to fly the Cape coastline at low level, or to drop guests at a remote viewpoint above the Zambezi. Two passengers, one pilot, doors-off when the photographers ask.

Seats
3
Range
300 nm
Cruise
110 kt

Helicopter

Bell 407GXi

Family helicopter movements and Victoria Falls flights

Six-seat single turbine. Fast, smooth, and the standard Victoria Falls scenic helicopter — but used by us for far more interesting work: helicopter-supported walking safaris, gorilla-trekking transfers in Rwanda, and the kind of family movements where a Caravan is too large and an R44 too small.

Seats
6
Range
330 nm
Cruise
133 kt

The right aircraft for your route.

Every Ascot Private journey is matched to the aircraft that serves it best. A Journey Expert will explain which aircraft and why, on the call.

Or speak with a Senior Journey Designer.