Airlink adds more capacity on Richards Bay route

AIRLINK UPGRADES RICHARDS BAY ROUTE

More travellers will be able to fly between Johannesburg and Richards Bay, now that local independent carrier, Airlink have enhanced their service on the route.

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The upgraded route, which began on 4 December, allows for a significant increase in capacity, with Airlink’s 74-seat Embraer E170 jetliners replacing the 29-seat Jetstream 41 turboprop aircraft. In addition to this, tourism update reports, the flight time on the route will be reduced by up to 30 minutes.

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According to Airlink CEO and MD, Rodger Foster, Richards Bay is crucial to South Africa’s economy and it requires reliable and efficient air services to connect the city’s businesses.

“We are also keeping the promise we made to our partners, the City of uMhlathuze and the KwaZulu Natal government, to deploy larger aircraft on the route once there was sufficient demand,” Foster said.

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A NEW SEASONAL LOCAL ROUTE

In other local flight news, after almost a full year later, South African Airways (SAA) has revealed that they are ready to go ahead with their promised Johannesburg-Gqerberha route.

Last year in December, the airline had announced direct flights between the two cities ahead of the festive season, but due to a lengthy regulatory approval process, SAA had to unfortunately put the route on hold.

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Now, according to Travel News, bookings for the new seasonal route are now open and will kick off from 13 December 2023 until 31 March 2024.

The airline has revealed that there will be two flights a day, seven days a week, although the schedule is still not known.