Airlink
Encyclopedia
Airlink is an airline
based in Johannesburg
, South Africa
. It is privately owned and has developed into South Africa's first feeder network aimed at linking the smaller towns, regional centers and hubs throughout South Africa. It is no longer part of an alliance with South African Airways
and South African Express
, but still maintains various co-operative agreements.
. In 2009 Airlink leased space in the office park. The park is a part of the Greenstone commercial development, located in the Modderfontein site.
Previously Airlink had its head office in Bonaero Park
.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
based in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It is privately owned and has developed into South Africa's first feeder network aimed at linking the smaller towns, regional centers and hubs throughout South Africa. It is no longer part of an alliance with South African Airways
South African Airways
South African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The airline flies to 36 destinations worldwide from its hub at OR Tambo International...
and South African Express
South African Express
South African Express Airways is an airline based in South Africa. Although the airline is operationally independent of South African Airways, its flights are incorporated within the strategic alliance with Airlink and South African Airways. South African Express started operations on 24 April 1994...
, but still maintains various co-operative agreements.
History
Airlink was formed in 1995 and incorporated a range of other airlines: Midlands Aviation (founded in 1967), Lowveld Aviation Services, Magnum Airways, Border Air, Citi Air and Link Airways. It has a 40% share in Swaziland Airlink. In 1997 Airlink joined South African Airways and South African Express Airways in a strategic alliance which is governed by a franchise agreement.Destinations
Airlink serves the following destinations (as of February 2011) :- South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
- BloemfonteinBloemfonteinBloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
– Bloemfontein AirportBloemfontein AirportBloemfontein Airport is located in Bloemfontein, a city in the Free State province of South Africa. The runways are shared with AFB Bloemspruit.In 2004, the airport served 225,636 passengers Bloemfontein Airport is located in Bloemfontein, a city in the Free State province of South Africa. The... - Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
– Cape Town International AirportCape Town International AirportCape Town International Airport is the primary airport serving the city of Cape Town, and is the second busiest airport in South Africa and third busiest in Africa. Located approximately from the city centre, the airport was opened in 1954 to replace Cape Town's previous airport in the suburb of... - DurbanDurbanDurban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
– King Shaka International AirportKing Shaka International AirportKing Shaka International Airport, also known as La Mercy Airport and abbreviated as KSIA, is the primary airport serving Durban, South Africa. Located at La Mercy, approximately north of the city centre of Durban, it opened its doors to passengers on May 1, 2010, just over a month before the... - East London – East London AirportEast London AirportEast London Airport is located in East London, South Africa.East London's airport is a small but bustling one that plays an important role in the growing economy of the Eastern Cape....
- GeorgeGeorge, Western CapeGeorge is a city with 203,253 inhabitants in South Africa's Western Cape province. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre and the administrative and commercial hub of the Garden Route.- Location :...
– George AirportGeorge AirportGeorge Airport is an airport located in George, South Africa. It was formerly known as P.W. Botha Airport, named after the state president who lived in this part of the country.In 2004, the airport served 199,000 passengers, up from 154,000 in 2003.... - JohannesburgJohannesburgJohannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
– OR Tambo International Airport Hub - KimberleyKimberley, Northern CapeKimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
– Kimberley AirportKimberley AirportKimberley Airport is an airport serving Kimberley, the capital city of the province of Northern Cape in South Africa.-Facilities:The airport resides at an elevation of above mean sea level... - NelspruitNelspruitNelspruit is a city of more than 500,000 people situated in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province . Located on the Crocodile River, Nelspruit lies about west of the Mozambique border and east of Johannesburg. The towns of Nelspruit are Kanyamazane and Pienaar...
– Kruger Mpumalanga International AirportKruger Mpumalanga International AirportKruger Mpumalanga International Airport located north east of Nelspruit. It serves travelers to Kruger National Park and there are also scheduled passenger flights to Johannesburg and, less frequently, to other South African cities.... - PietermaritzburgPietermaritzburgPietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
– Pietermaritzburg AirportPietermaritzburg AirportPietermaritzburg Airport is an airport, also known as ORIBI Airport, in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa .- Navigational Aids :-Notes:The airport has Pilot Controlled night landing facilities... - PhalaborwaPhalaborwaPhalaborwa is a town situated in the Mopani district, halfway up along the length of the Kruger National Park in the Limpopo province in South Africa. The Lowveld, also known as Valley of the Olifants, has the highest winter temperatures in South Africa. The rainfall is low and the average winter...
– Hendrik Van Eck AirportHendrik Van Eck AirportHendrik Van Eck Airport is an airport serving Phalaborwa, a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It also known as Phalaborwa Airport and is located near Kruger National Park.-Facilities:... - PolokwanePolokwanePolokwane, meaning "Place of Safety",is a city in the Polokwane Local Municipality and the capital of the Limpopo province, South Africa. It is also often referred to by its former name, Pietersburg. Polokwane is a major urban centre, the biggest and most important north of Gauteng. The population...
– Polokwane International AirportPolokwane International AirportPolokwane International Airport, formerly known as Pietersburg International Airport or Gateway International Airport , is an airport serving the city of Polokwane in the South African province of Limpopo. The airport is located 5 km north of the city... - Port Elizabeth – Port Elizabeth AirportPort Elizabeth AirportPort Elizabeth Airport , formerly H. F. Verwoerd Airport, is an airport situated in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The airport is owned and operated by the Airports Company South Africa which also operates nine other airports around South Africa....
- Umtata – K. D. Matanzima AirportK. D. Matanzima AirportK. D. Matanzima Airport is an airport serving Mthatha , a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The airport is named for Kaiser Matanzima , a leader of the former bantustan of Transkei. It also known as Mthatha Airport or Umtata Airport.- Facilities :The airport resides at an...
- Upington – Upington AirportUpington AirportUpington Airport is an airport located in Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa. At 4900 metres, runway 17/35 is one of the longest runways in the world...
- Bloemfontein
- LesothoLesothoLesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
- MaseruMaseruMaseru is the capital of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, bordering South Africa, Maseru is Lesotho's only sizable city, with a population of approximately 227,880 . The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the...
– Moshoeshoe I International Airport
- Maseru
- MadagascarMadagascarThe Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
- AntananarivoAntananarivoAntananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
– Ivato AirportIvato AirportIvato International Airport is an airport located in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.-Airport expansion:In view of the African Union Summit of 2009 and the planned but later cancelled Francophonie Summit of 2010 being held in Madagascar, Ivato airport will begin renovations that will last...
- Antananarivo
- MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
- BeiraBeira, MozambiqueBeira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean. Beira had a population of 412,588 in 1997, which grew to an estimated 546,000 in 2006...
– Beira AirportBeira AirportBeira Airport is an airport in Beira, Mozambique .-Scheduled services:... - MaputoMaputoMaputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...
– Maputo International AirportMaputo International AirportMaputo International Airport , also known as Lourenço Marques Airport, is an airport located northwest of the center of Maputo, the largest city and capital of Mozambique. It is the largest airport in Mozambique, and hub for LAM Mozambique Airlines and Kaya Airlines... - PembaPemba, MozambiquePemba is a port city in Mozambique. It is the capital of the province of Cabo Delgado and lies on a peninsula in Pemba Bay.The town was founded by the Niassa Company in 1904 as Porto Amélia, after a queen of Portugal, at the peninsula's south western tip and has grown around a port. The city is...
– Pemba Airport - NampulaNampulaNampula is the capital city of Nampula Province in Mozambique.It has a population of 471,717 making it the third largest city in Mozambique after Maputo and Beira. It is home to the Mozambique National Ethnographic Museum, several markets, cathedrals and mosques.It is also the center of business...
- Nampula AirportNampula AirportNampula Airport is an airport in Nampula, Mozambique . In the northeastern part of Mozambique, with 2 paved runways and is also a hub for Kaya Airlines.-Airlines and destinations:... - Tete - Chingozi AirportChingozi AirportChingozi Airport is an airport in Tete, Mozambique .-Scheduled services:...
- Beira
- SwazilandSwazilandSwaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
- Manzini – Matsapha AirportMatsapha AirportMatsapha Airport is an airport located near Manzini, a city in Manzini District of Swaziland.In 2011 it will be replaced by Sikhuphe International Airport and will be taken over by the army. The handover had been expected in 2010 but construction of the new airport has been delayed.-Facilities:The...
- Manzini – Matsapha Airport
- ZambiaZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
- LivingstoneLivingstone, ZambiaLivingstone or Maramba is a historic colonial city and present capital of the Southern Province of Zambia, a tourism centre for the Victoria Falls lying north of the Zambezi River, and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of the Falls...
– Livingstone AirportLivingstone AirportHarry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport is an international airport in Livingstone, Zambia . Formerly Livingstone Airport, this airport is now called Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport. Harry Mwanga Nkumbula was the leader of the Africa National Congress in Zambia, one of the parties... - LusakaLusakaLusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres . It has a population of about 1.7 million . It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head...
– Lusaka International AirportLusaka International AirportKenneth Kaunda International Airport is an international airport in Lusaka, Zambia, and was the hub of Zambian Airways. Formerly Lusaka International Airport, now called Kenneth Kaunda International Airport. The airport was renamed in honour of the first president of the Republic of Zambia Dr... - NdolaNdolaNdola is the third largest city in Zambia, with a population of 495,000 . It is the industrial, commercial, on the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It is also the commercial capital city of Zambia and has one of the three international airports, others...
– Ndola AirportNdola Airport-Location:Ndola Airport is located in Copperbelt Province in nothern Zambia, in the city of Ndola, near the International border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
- Livingstone
- ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
- BulawayoBulawayoBulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
– Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International AirportJoshua Mqabuko Nkomo International AirportJoshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport is an airport in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. There are 2 airlines currently operating out of Bulawayo Airport. Air Zimbabwe and South African Airways... - HarareHarareHarare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
– Harare International AirportHarare International AirportHarare International Airport is an airport in Harare, Zimbabwe. The airport is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and is the hub of Air Zimbabwe. The airport's runway, at , is one of the longest in Africa. It compares with OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South...
- Bulawayo
Fleet
The Airlink fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 16 March 2010):| Aircraft | In Service |
Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J | Y | Total | |||
| Avro RJ85 | 4 | 14 — |
69 83 |
83 | Leased from Safair Safair Safair is an airline based in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa. Operator of one of the world's largest fleets of civil Lockheed L-100 Hercules cargo aircraft, it also conducts aircraft chartering, leasing and sales, contract operations and leasing services, flightcrew leasing and... . |
| BAe 146-200 | 4 | 0 | 97 | 97 | |
| Embraer ERJ 135LR Embraer ERJ 145 family The Embraer ERJ 145 family is a series of regional jets produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. Family members include the ERJ 135 , ERJ 140 , and ERJ 145 , as well as the Legacy business jet and the R-99 family of military aircraft. The ERJ 145 is the largest of the group... |
8 | 0 | 37 | 37 | |
| BAe Jetstream 41 | 13 | 0 | 29 | 29 | |
| Total | 29 | ||||
Incidents and accidents
- On 24 September 2009, Airlink Flight 8911Airlink Flight 8911Airlink Flight 8911 was a positioning flight from Durban International Airport to Pietermaritzburg Airport that crashed into the grounds of Merebank Secondary School shortly after takeoff at around 8:00 a.m. local time on September 24, 2009, injuring the three occupants of the aircraft and one on...
, a BAe Jetstream 41, crashed in the suburb of Merebank shortly after takeoff from Durban International AirportDurban International AirportDurban International Airport was the international airport of Durban from 1951 until 2010, when it was replaced by King Shaka International Airport, to the north. The airport is co-located with AFB Durban.-History:...
, injuring its crew of three and one person on the ground. The captain, Allister Freeman, died as a result of complications from his injuries on 7 October 2009.
- On 18 November 2009, Airlink BAe Jetstream 41 (registration:ZS-OMZ) on flight SA-8488 veered off the runway while taking-off from Port Elizabeth AirportPort Elizabeth AirportPort Elizabeth Airport , formerly H. F. Verwoerd Airport, is an airport situated in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The airport is owned and operated by the Airports Company South Africa which also operates nine other airports around South Africa....
to East London. All of the 32 passengers and crew were uninjured. The airline attributed the incident to bad weather with decreased visibility, rain and wind present.
- On 7 December 2009, an Airlink Embraer ERJ 135 (registration:ZS-SJW) on scheduled flight SA-8625, overshot the runway when trying to land in wet weather at George AirportGeorge AirportGeorge Airport is an airport located in George, South Africa. It was formerly known as P.W. Botha Airport, named after the state president who lived in this part of the country.In 2004, the airport served 199,000 passengers, up from 154,000 in 2003....
; no fatalities were reported.
- On 23 December 2009 the SA Civil Aviation AuthoritySouth African Civil Aviation AuthorityThe South African Civil Aviation Authority is the South African national aviation authority, overseeing civil aviation and governing investigations of aviation accidents and incidents. It is headquartered in the Midrand community of Johannesburg.-External links:* *...
(SACAA) grounded their fleet of 14 BAe Jetstream 41 planes.
Head office
Airlink has its head office in the 11th office block of the Greenstone Office Park in the Modderfontein suburb of JohannesburgJohannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. In 2009 Airlink leased space in the office park. The park is a part of the Greenstone commercial development, located in the Modderfontein site.
Previously Airlink had its head office in Bonaero Park
Bonaero Park
Bonaero Park is a southern suburb of Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, in Gauteng province, South Africa. It lies next to OR Tambo International Airport, the busiest in Africa...
.