Victoria Falls

The mighty Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Image: Adobe Stock

Taking off: Airline confirms new regional flight network

Local airline Airlink has confirmed the regional routes it will operate from October.

Victoria Falls

The mighty Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Image: Adobe Stock

South Africa’s borders will reopen on 1 October, allowing travel to and from countries outside of South Africa. Privately owned South African airline Airlink operated flights to domestic and regional destinations prior to the lockdown and closure of South Africa’s borders.

Airlink operated its network in conjunction with South African Airways (SAA) routes. It provided a feeder service to South African Airways’ long-haul passengers, through SAA’s hubs in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

Airlink parted ways with South African Airways earlier in 2020 and will now operate several new routes which were operated by SAA since the embattled airline is not operational at present.

Airlink announces new regional routes

Nosy Be in Madagascar will soon be on the cards for South African travellers again through Airlink’s October flight routes. Image: Adobe Stock

Airlink indicated that it will be operating flights to several new destinations. This was revealed in a statement released by the airline. Flights from Johannesburg to Maputo and Johannesburg to Harare are two new routes which will be offered by Airlink in October.

Other new destinations will be added in the near future.

The airline will operate between Johannesburg and Windhoek, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam, Luanda and Lubumbashi.

Other destinations served from Johannesburg will include:

  • Gaborone;
  • Maun;
  • Kasane;
  • Antananarivo;
  • Nosy Be;
  • Vilanculos;
  • Maseru;
  • Manzini;
  • and Livingstone.

New routes out of Cape will include Victoria Falls and Maun. The statement issued by Airlink on Wednesday 23 September mentioned the introduction of other new routes in the near future.

Connecting through major airports in South Africa

Airlink operates a network of domestic flights within South Africa. The resumption of regional flights will enable domestic passengers to travel to destinations outside of South Africa.

Passengers will be able to connect from Airlink’s domestic flights onto its regional flights when travelling through:

  • Johannesburg;
  • Durban;
  • and Cape Town airports.

Airlink will launch flights to Harare on 5 October, and Maputo from 12 October. 

From 12 October it will also begin operating flights to destinations in:

  • Zimbabwe;
  • Namibia; Zambia;
  • and Mozambique.

Destinations served include Bulawayo, Windhoek, Walvis Bay, Ndola, Lusaka, Pemba, Beira and Tete and Maputo.