Flying to Amboseli: the 2026 timetables, fares and airstrips

Which airlines fly to Amboseli?

Two airlines run scheduled flights from Nairobi Wilson to the Amboseli airstrip, and both publish 2026 timetables. Safarilink's Timetable and Fares 2026, valid to 31 December 2026, has a daily morning flight out at 07:15 and back at 08:10, plus an afternoon pair in high season. Airkenya's Flight Schedule 2026, valid from 21 December 2025 to 31 December 2026, has a daily morning rotation a quarter of an hour later. Safarilink also sells onward flights from Amboseli to the Masai Mara, Nanyuki and Laikipia, which lets you build a circuit without returning to Nairobi.

Read the small print before you plan around the afternoon. Safarilink's 14:00 departure from Wilson and its 15:30 return run only in high season, which the airline defines as 16 December to 31 March and 1 July to 31 October; in low season they can be considered "on an inducement basis". Every Safarilink flight on this route needs at least four passengers per service and two per airstrip, and Airkenya's needs at least two.

From the Safarilink Timetable and Fares 2026 and the Airkenya Flight Schedule 2026, both checked on 4 October 2026. Safarilink fares are in US dollars and exclude taxes. Light-aircraft routings change with demand, so reconfirm your times a day or two before you fly.

What a flight to Amboseli costs in 2026

Safarilink charges $205 one way and $352 return between Wilson and Amboseli, and the fare is the same in high and low season. Taxes come on top: Safarilink says domestic departure taxes run from $11 to $15 per sector depending on the destination. Children aged 2 to 11 pay 75 per cent of the adult fare, and tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable. A couple flying return therefore pays $704 before tax.

Airkenya publishes no fare in its 2026 timetable or on its Amboseli page, so ask the airline or your lodge for a quote. Ignore the $327 fare on Safarilink's own Amboseli destination page: it sits in a fare calendar labelled September 2018, beside an out-of-date schedule, and the 2026 timetable supersedes both.

Baggage: 15 kg in a soft bag

Both airlines fly light aircraft and both cap you at 15 kg per person, hand luggage included, in soft-sided bags. Safarilink sets a maximum of 60 x 45 x 30 cm per piece; Airkenya gives 60 x 45 x 33 cm as a guide and counts up to 5 kg of carry-on inside the 15 kg. Pack a duffel, not a hard suitcase, because a rigid case may not fit the hold.

If you need more, both airlines sell an extra seat as freight, carrying up to 75 kg, and Safarilink charges the adult fare for it. Airkenya charges $5 per kilo of excess. Safarilink still publishes pre-booked excess bundles of $50 for up to 10 kg, $80 for 11 to 20 kg and $145 for 21 to 30 kg, on a table dated 2023/2024. Check-in closes 60 minutes before departure at Wilson and 30 minutes before at the bush strip, on both airlines.

The Amboseli airstrip, and why some pages call it Kimana

The park's own strip is Amboseli Airstrip, ICAO code HKAM and IATA code ASV, a tarmac runway inside the park just north of Ol Tukai at about 1,145 m (OurAirports). KWS's management plan calls the entry point there the Empusel (airstrip) gate. It lies 11.8 km from Iremito Gate, 18.5 km from Kimana Gate and 21.5 km from Meshanani Gate by park road.

The confusion comes from KWS's current park page, which describes the park's single tarmac airstrip as "Kimana airstrip". There is a separate Kimana airstrip outside the park, near Kimana town in the Kimana Sanctuary, and Safarilink treats the two as different stops: the same 07:15 flight lands at Kimana for $247 one way or $436 return, with a minimum of four passengers at a supplement. Angama Amboseli flies its guests to that Kimana strip. When you book, make sure the ticket says Amboseli unless your lodge has told you otherwise.

A few camps outside the park use their own strips. Porini Amboseli uses the Selenkay airstrip in its conservancy, ol Donyo Lodge the Chyulu airstrip, and Tawi Lodge has a private strip for charters. KWS also mentions strips at Namanga town and at a Kilimanjaro Buffalo Lodge, which this guide could not match to any current property.

From JKIA or Kilimanjaro airport to the Amboseli flight

International flights land at Jomo Kenyatta International (NBO), but every scheduled Amboseli flight leaves from Wilson (WIL), on the other side of Nairobi. The road between them is about 16 km, 22 minutes in free-flowing traffic and 45 to 90 minutes in a normal Nairobi jam. With Wilson check-in closing an hour before departure, a same-day connection to the 07:15 only works off an overnight flight that lands very early; otherwise sleep in Nairobi and fly the next morning, or take Safarilink's afternoon flight in high season.

Neither 2026 timetable has a flight between Amboseli and Tanzania. Kilimanjaro International (JRO) is 213 km from Meshanani Gate by road through the Namanga border, about 4.5 to 5 hours. Both airlines also fly Wilson to Arusha: Safarilink for $210 one way, and Airkenya on P2 823 at 13:30 and the return P2 824 at 14:40, not operating from 1 April to 20 May or from 1 November to 15 December. Airkenya's morning return from Amboseli connects at Wilson to that 13:30 Arusha departure. From the coast, Mombasa Air Safari runs a circuit that calls at Amboseli and Tsavo West; its Amboseli fares are not confirmed for 2026.

From the airstrip to your lodge

You still need a vehicle once you land. KWS requires you to stay in your car inside the park, except at designated places such as Observation Hill, so a lodge vehicle has to meet the plane. The conservation fee of $90 per non-resident adult per 24 hours applies from the moment you are in the park (October 2025 KWS card); KWS does not explain how tickets are checked for air arrivals, so ask your lodge whether it prepays your fee on KWSPay or expects you to.

What the transfer costs depends on where you sleep, and the lodges' own pages differ widely:

• Ol Tukai Lodge: return airstrip transfers included in its ground package, from $385 per person for the first night in 2026.
• Kibo Villa: return transfers from the Amboseli airstrip included in its all-inclusive rate.
• Amboseli Serena: 9 km from the airstrip, per its fact sheet.
• Elewana Tortilis Camp: 45 minutes' drive from the strip; $120 per vehicle on full board, included in the game package.
• Amboseli Sopa Lodge: a one-hour transfer from the strip.
• Porini Amboseli: free transfers from its own Selenkay airstrip, an extra charge from the Amboseli strip.
• Angama Amboseli: transfers from the Kimana strip included, $250 from the Amboseli strip (2025 rates page).

Drive or fly to Amboseli?

Amboseli is close enough to Nairobi that flying is a time saving, and a large one: 35 to 45 minutes in the air against 4 to 5 hours on the road, the last stretch on gravel. The flight costs a couple $704 return before tax on Safarilink, so it pays for itself mainly on short stays and on lodge packages that bundle the transfer and the game drives.

• Fly if you are staying at a lodge inside the park for two nights or fewer and do not want to spend a day each way on the road.
• Fly if Amboseli is one stop on a circuit: Safarilink's morning departures from the strip reach the Mara at 09:40 and Laikipia at 10:10.
• Drive if you self-drive: your car is your game-drive vehicle, and a flight leaves you dependent on a lodge vehicle at the strip.
• Drive if you are combining Amboseli with Tsavo West: Chyulu Gate is 74 km from Kimana Gate, about 2 to 2.5 hours, and you need your own vehicle in both parks.
• Book the morning flight in low season (1 April to 30 June and 1 November to 15 December), when Safarilink's afternoon service does not run.

Sources

• Safarilink, Timetable and Fares 2026 (checked 4 Oct 2026)
• Safarilink, flights to Amboseli: seasons and taxes (checked 4 Oct 2026)
• Airkenya, Flight Schedule 2026 (checked 4 Oct 2026)
• KWS, Amboseli National Park page (checked 4 Oct 2026)
• KWS, Amboseli National Park Management Plan 2020-2030 (checked 4 Oct 2026)
• KWS Conservation Fees, October 2025 (checked 4 Oct 2026)
• OurAirports, Amboseli Airport HKAM (checked 4 Oct 2026)