Private jet charter from Maun: live estimates by route, Okavango Delta access, runway limits and flood season.
Maun (FBMN/MUB) exists, in aviation terms, to serve the Okavango Delta. It is the busiest light-aircraft airport in southern Africa by movements for exactly that reason: almost every guest reaching a Delta camp does so on a small aircraft out of Maun, because there is no road and no alternative.
Maun’s runway is around 6,560 ft — short by the standards of the other departure points on this site, and the second shortest in the network. It comfortably takes turboprops and light jets. Larger types are constrained, particularly on a hot afternoon at Maun’s 3,100 ft elevation, and a heavy jet arriving at full weight is not a routine proposition here.
That is not a limitation in practice, because the flying that matters from Maun is short-sector work into Delta airstrips measured in hundreds of metres of sand and grass. The Caravan and the light single are the right tools and they are based here.
Live whole-aircraft estimates, cheapest suitable aircraft on each sector, including the positioning leg. Figures refresh with the fleet and airport data behind them.
| Destination | Distance | Flight time | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kasane (BBK) | 162 NM | 1h 31m | US$ 1,600 |
| Victoria Falls (VFA) | 177 NM | 1h 38m | US$ 1,500 |
| Livingstone (LVI) | 187 NM | 1h 43m | US$ 1,600 |
| Gaborone (GBE) | 308 NM | 2h 39m | US$ 3,500 |
| Lusaka (LUN) | 400 NM | 3h 22m | US$ 2,300 |
| Harare (HRE) | 452 NM | 3h 46m | US$ 3,700 |
Types with a home base at FBMN in our fleet data. Departing on a based aircraft avoids the empty positioning leg, which is the single biggest saving available on a short sector.
Botswana’s calendar confuses people, and it is worth getting right. The Okavango floods between roughly June and August — but that water fell as rain in the Angolan highlands months earlier and takes that long to arrive. So the Delta is at its fullest, and the game viewing at its best, during Botswana’s dry winter.
That makes June to September the peak season: dry, cool, and the busiest weeks of the year for the based fleet. The actual rainy season runs November to March, when the Delta is lower, camps are quieter and cheaper, and some airstrips become unreliable after heavy rain. Book the peak months well ahead; the light fleet in Maun is genuinely fully committed in July and August.
Botswana is administratively easy and traffic from South Africa and Namibia is routine. Regional sectors to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia each need their own landing permission in working days. Ground handling at Maun is quick and informal by international standards, which suits the volume of small-aircraft movements it handles.
Across the 6 routes priced on this page, whole-aircraft estimates run from about US$1,500 on the shortest sector to US$3,700 on the longest. Charter is priced per aircraft rather than per seat, so the cost is the same whether one person travels or the cabin is full, and the positioning leg flown to collect you is included in every figure shown.
Charter flights use Maun International Airport (FBMN / MUB), with a longest runway of 6,562 ft at 3,093 ft elevation. Private departures are handled through the general aviation terminal or an FBO where one operates, which is a considerably faster process than the main passenger terminal.
Our fleet data shows 2 types based at FBMN: Cessna 206 Stationair, Cessna Grand Caravan EX. A based aircraft does not have to fly an empty leg to reach you, so quotes on these types are usually materially cheaper than the same trip on an aircraft positioning in from another country.
The longest route priced here is Maun to Harare at 452 NM. Whether a given sector is flown non-stop depends on the aircraft: light jets and turboprops will need a technical stop on longer legs, while a heavy or ultra-long-range type will fly it directly. The aircraft list on each route page shows which types clear the distance.
Twenty-four to forty-eight hours is comfortable for a domestic or regional trip when a suitable aircraft is already nearby. Cross-border flights need longer, because overflight and landing permits in several African states are issued in working days rather than hours, and a weekend or public holiday in the destination country can add a day. Same-day departures are possible but depend entirely on what is already positioned within reach.