Looking for the latest news about Airlink? You've come to the right spot. This page contains an archive of the lastest news and history of the airline.
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27 October 2020: The airline has dropped the "SA" pre-fix to their name in order to distance themselves from SAA and the woes they face. Airlink is an independently run airline with no affiliation to SAA. From now on they will be known simply as Airlink.
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2 August 2017: SA Airlink are launching a new return flight between Cape Town and Pretoria
from the 28th of August 2017. The new flight will depart Cape Town to arrive in Pretoria at 09h00 and depart Pretoria again at 17h30. This is catered towards businesss clients looking to make the most of their day.
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17 August 2016: SA Airlink will introduce an additional Bulawayo flight from the 5th of September 2016. The weekday flight targeted at business travellers will depart Johannesburg at 06h25 and the return flight will depart at 08h05. The airline will further increase capacity on this route over the Christmas period with additional afternoon flights from the 12th of December 2016 until the 15th of January 2017. Airlink's Sales and Marketing Manager, Karin Murray, has credited fleet growth for the additional routes: "The addition of a 19th aircraft to Airlink’s Embraer ERJ135 37 seat regional jet fleet has made the additional flights possible. The second flight will also allow Airlink to introduce additional capacity on the route."
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11 July 2016: SA Airlink has confirmed that all passengers and staff on flight SA8678 from Cape Town to Wonderboom has arrived safely in Pretoria. This despite earlier reports that the plane had been hijacked. The airline has confirmed that the radar system sent out an incorrect signal and that this was an anomaly.
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22 March 2016: SA Airlink has commenced flights between Cape Town and Maun, Botswana. The service is offered on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They currently operate the route on an Embraer ERJ 135 regional jet aircraft with flights departing Cape Town at 10h35 and arriving in Maun at 13h05, and the return flights departing Maun at 13h35 and arriving back in Cape Town at 16h10. They are considering increasing flights during the peak travel period from August.
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5 October 2015: SA Airlink will launch flights between Cape Town and Maun, Botswana on the 11th of March 2016. The five weekly flights will depart on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
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10 December 2014: Skukuza International Airport has launched a beautiful new website. They have teamed up with Airlink to create one of the most interactive and user friendly airport websites in South Africa. There are beautiful videos and pictures to look at and you can even book a flight on Airlink through the site. Click here to see more.
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SA Airlink announced that they will commence flights between Cape Town and Maun, Botswana on the 11th of March 2016. The 5 return flights per week will originally operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
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The first scheduled flight between Wonderboom Airport and Cape Town airport took off on Sunday, the 16th of August 2015. This comes despite reports of fuel problems at the Pretoria airport. They will start out with three return flights daily, one early morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evenings.

With affordable airfares starting from R892* it is likely to attract travellers from Pretoria who want to cut on travel time. Whilst Lanseria Airport is closer to Pretoria, many travellers still preferred travelling to and from OR Tambo as the Gautrain offers a convenient and affordable way to get to and from the airport. Cape Town flights from Pretoria offers them a third option that is closer to home.
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SA Airlink is launching flights between Cape Town and Wonderboom, Pretoria. The first of the three daily flights will take to the skies on the 16th of August 2015. This service will be a great alternative to those making use of Lanseria airport as well as for Pretoria residents who had to travel all the way to Johannesburg.
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Airlink has bought four new Cessna Caravans. The aircraft can seat a total of 12 passengers in comfort. The Caravans will be used to serve luxury lodges in and around the Kruger area. The aircraft will be used from March 2016 for flights in and out of Skukuza and Nelspruit to lodges like Londolozi and Mala Mala.
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SA Airlink are reducing their fuel surcharges in line with the lower oil cost. They are following in the footsteps of FlySafair and Mango who both announced that they will be dropping prices due to the lower costs. The reduced prices will be available from the 9th of February 2015.
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From the 2nd June 2014 SA Airlink is launching an additional flight on weekdays between CPT and George.
- SA Airlink has added 3 new flights to Upington from Cape Town to their current operations. The flights that have been added will be operated on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays.
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December 2013. Airlink have introduced a service fee for passengers who buy or fetch a South African Airways or SA Express ticket from an Airlink booking office (if the flight includes an Airlink sector, there is no fee). The service fee is R500 for international flights and R200 for regional & domestic flights.
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27 September 2013. Airlink Statement in response to SA Express starting Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg to Nelspruit & Cape Town to George flights: "The State Owned airline SA Express today announced that it will begin competing with the privately owned carrier Airlink on routes currently operated by Airlink in terms of its commercial agreement with SAA. While Airlink welcomes competition on any of its routes on a fair and equal basis, we feel strongly about being taken on by a technically insolvent State Owned airline using the taxpayer’s funds to compete with us unequally. Airlink is in its own right a taxpayer contributing more than R400m in taxes (VAT, PAYE, and Corporate Tax) annually to the Fiscus, and it is ironic that the State sees it fit to use taxpayer’s funds to compete with its bona fide taxpayers. We note that the SAX flights will operate using intellectual property owned by SAA, which places SAA in breach of its agreements with Airlink. The State owns a small stake in Airlink (3% held by SAA), with the balance of Airlink’s shares being privately held. Airlink is 32.5% broad based black owned with the beneficiaries of this ownership being more than 300,000 black families. Airlink supports over 1,000 families directly, with an additional 5,000 families being supported downstream."
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March 2014. SA Airlink plans to start flights to Skukuza
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27 June 2013. Airlink flight 4Z-8739 from JNB to Pietermaritzburg receives a fire warning on its outboard right hand engine number 4. The engine on the RJ85 plane was shut down, and the pilot turned the plane back to OR Tambo International Airport.
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24 June 2013. SA Airlink has sold 4 Jetstream 41 planes to Brindabella Airlines (FQ, based in Australia).
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17 Apr 2013. SA Airlink teams up with Worldwide Flight Services to form Africa Flight Services (South Africa), AFS. AFS has a opened cargo handling warehouses at Cape Town International Airport and O.R. Tambo International Airport. Emirates SkyCargo is the initial customer of AFS. "Africa Flight Services (AFS) is a new brand for our expansion plans in Africa. This is an important and growing market for us and we want to give it a dedicated focus but with the ability to draw on all the expertise and resources of the WFS global network. AFS will enable us to enter into local partnerships and joint ventures, and to customise services and tailor resources to the needs of customers in this dynamic and rapidly growing market. We are proud to announce Emirates SkyCargo as our launch customer in Johannesburg and Cape Town and we are extremely appreciative of the airline’s support of our new partnership with SA Airlink. AFS is the start of an exciting new venture that will see us open additional stations in South Africa and southern Africa as well as expanding into other areas of activity.” said Barry Nassberg, COO of WFS.
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April 2013. We love hearing about car guard musician, Allen Abraham, and in their April 2013 in-flight magazine, the editor Airlink gives him a hat-tip. He recently got invited to travel to Dubai to perform for expats there "On an aeroplane, they must just put my plane right at the top, so that if anything happens I'm ready". Airlink also do a write-up on Vilanculos in Mozambique & Mpumalanga's top attractions (Mac Mac swimming pools, Cosmos Country, Pilgrim's Rest, Blyde River Canyon, Bourke's Luck Potholes, God's Window, Barberton, Bird Paradise, Animal Planet and Dullstroom. First Car Rental advertise their 45 branches in the April edition of Skyways
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22 Mar 2013. Airlink moves an Embraer ERJ135 jet onto the Nelspruit to Livingstone flight route, allowing for a shorter flying time. "Airlink looks forward with enthusiasm to playing a role in the further growth of this market to the benefit of all tourism product stakeholders," said Airlink in a statement.
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4 Mar 2013. It's reported that Swazi Airlink will have to switch from Matsapha Airport near Mbabane & Manzini to Skhuphe Airport, once it is completed in August/September 2013.
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4 Nov 2012. A 6th weekly flight is added for Johannesburg - Nampula flights.
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1 Oct 2012. Airlink increases the frequency of its Durban - Bloemfontein flights from 2 to 3 a day.
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1 Oct 2012. Airlink starts using an Embraer ERJ135 jet on its Johannesburg - Mthatha flights, shortening the trip to 1 hour.
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20 Jan 2016. Airlink announced today that they will be reintroducing flights between Johannesburg and Nosy Be, Madagascar from the 20th of March 2016. They will operate the route once weekly, with flights arriving and departing on Sundays. Due to headwinds and the routing, a technical stop in Vilanculos, Mozambique is necessary to refuel. The route will be operated by an Embraer ERJ 135 regional jet aircraft, with 20 seats belonging to MadagasCaT Charters and 17 seats available on GDS systems. From the 10th of March 2016, they will also start operating flights from Cape Town to Maun, Botswana.
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04 Sep 2014. Airlink announced today that they will be reintroducing flights between Cape Town and Windhoek from the 6th of October 2014. There will be two daily flights on Mondays to Fridays from Cape Town International Airport to Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek.
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03 Sep 2014. Airlink is launching flights from OR Tambo, Johannesburg to Sishen Airport, Northern Cape on 29 September 201. Airlink will offer two daily flights from Mondays to Fridays on an Embraer 135 Regional Jet Aircraft. This will serve the larger mining district Kathu.
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20 Jan 2014. Flights from Johannesburg to Gaborone are successully launched. The airlines is flying 10 flights a week on weekdays in Avro RJ85s.
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22 Mar 2013. Airlink commences 4 weekly flights from JNB to Kasane in Botswana; which are scheduled to leave O.R. Tambo International Airport at 11h45 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Flights are operated in Embraer ERJ 135 jets.
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22 Mar 2013. Airlink commences JNB to Vilanculos flights.
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15 Mar 2013. Flights between OR Tambo & Maun are upgraded to being flown in Avro RJ85 jets, with a business class service (14 seats) and 69 economy class seats.
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Jun 2012. Airlink launches daily JNB to Maun flights on Embraer ERJ135 aircraft.
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11 Apr 2012. Airlink adds an additional 2 weekly flights to its JNB - Ndola route
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10 Mar 2012. Airlink adds a Saturday flight to increase its Nelspruit Kruger - Livingstone flight frequency to 4 weekly flights.
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2 Aug 2011. Gearing up for the summer holiday season, Airlink has reintroduced its Wednesday flights from Joburg to Pemba (Mozambique).
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5 Sep 2011. Airlink reintroduces Bloemfontein to Port Elizabeth flights on Mondays and Thursdays.
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6 Jun 2011. Airlink begins a 2nd morning flight from Pietermaritzburg to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport.
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15 Aug 2009. Airlink starts flights from Nelspruit Kruger to Livingstone (Zambia).
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Aug 2013. Airlink switches to a daily flight service between Johannesburg & Kasane.