Airlink launches new route connecting South Africa and Tanzania

Airlink said the service would provide travellers with seamless connectivity onto its new direct flights linking Johannesburg with Cape Town and Durban.

An Airlink plane on the OR Tambo International Airport tarmac. File photo: Karen Sandison/African News Agency (ANA)

JOHANNESBURG, November 18 (ANA) – Private-owned airline Airlink said on Wednesday it had opened reservations for flights between Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to commence on December 1.

In a statement, it said the service would provide travellers with seamless connectivity onto Airlink’s new direct flights linking Johannesburg with Cape Town and Durban.

“The two cities (Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam) enjoy a special historical, significant political and economically vital commercial bonds as regional trading hubs for business and leisure travel and tourism,” Airlink chief executive officer Rodger Foster said.

Airlink is rebuilding and expanding its network with the resumption and addition of services to destinations throughout the Southern African Development Community region, all reachable with connections via its hub at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport.

The regional airline has more than 50 commercial jetliners operating throughout southern Africa, and last year carried two million passengers on more than 63,000 flights, on 55 routes to 39 destinations in nine countries on the continent as well as the South Atlantic Ocean island of St Helena.

On Wednesday, Airlink reiterated its focus on ensuring safety in light of the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic, highlighting how its aircraft were equipped with high efficiency particulate air filters effective at blocking 99.97 percent of particulates including coronavirus molecules.

After a months-long lockdown which grounded international travel, South Africa’s government has now green-lighted a resumption of flights to all countries, including those with high rates of Covid-19 infection, provided travellers provide certification that they’re negative for the virus.

– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa