Emirates Airline and Airlink have announced an interline agreement, widening Emirates’ reach into Southern Africa as countries begin opening their borders for travellers.

Emirates’ agreement with Airlink will provide its customers enhanced connectivity via its gateways Johannesburg and Cape Town to more than 25 domestic destinations in South Africa and more than 20 regional destinations in Southern Africa.

Emirates and Airlink will offer the ease of single-ticket travel and one-stop baggage check-in for customers transferring from Johannesburg and Cape Town to domestic points including Bloemfontein, George, Upington, Nelspruit, Hoedspruit and Port Elizabeth, as well as points across Southern Africa like Gaborone, Kasane, Vilanculos, Maun, Victoria Falls, Maputo, Windhoek, Harare, Lusaka, Ndola, Bulawayo and Livingstone amongst many others.

Customers can book their travel with both airlines on emirates.com, through online travel agencies as well as with local travel agents.

Commenting on the newly formed partnership, Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline, said, “Emirates is pleased to partner with Airlink on a new interline agreement that will help us strengthen our presence and give customers more choice, flexibility and enhanced connections across 45 cities in Southern Africa. We are committed to our operations in South Africa, as we continue to look at ways to build our extended network for customers, and help them benefit from diverse travel options.

The interline agreement that has gone into effect with Airlink is only the start of further collaboration, and we are looking forward to exploring more opportunities to widen the scope of our partnership in the future.”

In turn, Rodger Foster, Airlink CEO, said, “We are proud and excited about our new interline commercial agreement with Emirates. We have a deep respect for the airline, its values and its global reach. We are confident that the relationship will deliver enhanced travel options to customers given the designed interconnectivity that will be enabled at OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport.”

He added, “Airlink’s offering of connectable destinations includes most key points within Southern Africa such as; Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London, Bloemfontein, Harare, Lusaka, Maputo, Gaborone, Windhoek, amongst many others.”

Emirates resumed its operations in Johannesburg and Cape Town on 1st October, and Durban on 8th October, with enhanced safety measures in place across all of its onboard and on-ground touchpoints.

The airline continues to build market demand by connecting customers via Dubai from close to 100 destinations, as well as building more connection opportunities in South Africa and beyond through partnerships with airlines. Emirates Airline has announced it will resume flights to Budapest today (Oct.21), Bologna (Nov.1), Dusseldorf (Nov.1), Hamburg (Nov.1) and Lyon (Nov.4), expanding its European network to 31 destinations, and offering customers around the world convenient connections via Dubai.

The addition of these five destinations takes Emirates’ global network to 99 destinations, as the airline continues to gradually meet travel demand, while always prioritising the health and safety of its customers, crew and communities.

WAM