40 new destinations open up for SA travellers with airline partnership

After a lengthy absence from the local SA market due to a directive preventing Emirates Airlines from carrying passengers on its flights from South Africa, Emirates has relaunched flights to Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and enhanced its codeshare agreement with Airlink.

END OF FLIGHT BAN ON SA

Emirates Airlines halted flights to South Africa in January this year, as a result of restrictions raised by United Arab Emirates (UAE) Authorities banning flights between the two countries and restricting entry to passengers from South Africa – in an attempt to prevent the importation of the Beta variant of the Coronavirus into the UAE. 

From 5 August South Africans are allowed back on Emirates Airlines flights but only if travelling to other destinations when connecting through Dubai. This development is as a result of recent amendments to the travel restrictions issued by the UAE.  Entry to the UAE is still restricted for South Africans. 

EMIRATES MAKES A COMEBACK

From 12 August Emirates Airlines resumed a pre-Covid-19 flight schedule to South Africa, with flights to Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town but offering reduced frequencies.

Emirates has increased flights to Johannesburg from daily to 11 weekly flights, with the addition of four tag-on flights to Durban. The airline also flies to and from Cape Town three times a week.

PARTNERING UP WITH AIRLINK

Emirates has just expanded its partnership with the local airline Airlink. There was an existing codeshare agreement in place between the two airlines but this has been enhanced, enabling travellers to and from South Africa to enjoy convenient access to more than 40 domestic and regional destinations across 12 African countries.

Rodger Foster, chief executive officer and managing director of Airlink, said the new arrangement with Emirates Airlines was an “exciting development” that “is an overwhelming endorsement to Airlink”. He also said that Airlink was honoured, and privileged to have been chosen as Emirate’s Southern Africa partner.

“The tourism and air transportation sectors have been hardest hit by the pandemic and the associated lockdowns and travel bans, and as the world gets vaccinated, we expect the pent-up travel demand will be realised, and more customers will want to visit the special destinations that Airlink offers services to,” Foster added as quoted in The Citizen.

“The expansion of the Emirates-Airlink partnership marks an important step forward in our relationship. Our new codeshare agreement enhances our service offering and flexibility for customers traveling beyond our gateways in South and Southern Africa and provides them unparalleled options for leisure destinations,” said Adnan Kazim, Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airlines.

BENEFITS FOR PASSENGERS

Emirates’ flights to and from South Africa will offer seamless onward connectivity via Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.  Emirates’ chief commercial officer, Adnan Kazim, said the deal would bolster travellers leisure destination options, and stressed that the airline was committed to growing its operations in South Africa.

Domestic options include Bloemfontein, Pietermaritzburg and Port Elizabeth, while regional links in southern African include connections to Zimbabwe’s capital Harare, as well as Bulawayo, Windhoek, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe and Victoria Falls.

The arrangement will hopefully facilitate the return of international tourists to South Africa since the country is ramping up its vaccination efforts in an attempt to get a grip on COVID-19 infection rates. The fact that South Africa is also no longer being singled out as a destination that is prevalent with the Beta variant also holds hope for the return of tourists to our shores.