Cape Town - With life after Covid-19 slowly getting back to normal, Airlink Southern Africa announced the reinstatement of flights between Johannesburg and Richards Bay.
The resumption of Airlink’s daily flights comes after an enforced 20-month hiatus, during which Richards Bay Airport secured the necessary resources to accommodate scheduled airline operations in compliance with international-standard civil aviation safety requirements.
“Richards Bay plays a crucial role in KwaZulu-Natal’s industrial and trade mix and Airlink’s flights connect the coal terminus town and the businesses it hosts to other markets and economic centres. By doing so, Airlink is enhancing Richard Bay’s competitiveness and its attractiveness as a modern, efficient industrial destination for trade, investment and job creation. We have looked forward to welcoming Richards Bay customers back onboard and, with the necessary support and service from Airports Company South Africa, the City of uMhlathuze and the Provincial Government, we will be able to play our part in developing the local economy,” said Airlink CEO and managing director, Rodger Foster.
Initially, Airlink will operate its 29-seat Jetstream 41 turboprop airliners on the Richards Bay flights, with a view to using larger jets once sufficient traffic volumes have been achieved on the route.
Air Belgium’s inaugural flight from Brussels also touched down at 11am at the Cape Town International Airport, marking the beginning of the airline’s seasonal flights to South Africa.
The new route will be operated by the Airbus A330neo with a 286 seats capacity in a three-class layout (30 comfortable lie-flat business class, 21 premium-class, and 235 economy-class seats) and consumes on average 25% less fuel compared to previous generation aircraft, making the flight more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
In 2019, two-way international passenger volumes between Belgium and Cape Town exceeded 35,000 passengers, amounting to a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10% each year between 2015 and 2019.
Wesgro CEO and the Official Spokesperson for Cape Town Air Access, Wrenelle Stander, said: “We are pleased to welcome Air Belgium to Cape Town. Brussels is the largest un-served city in Europe for the Cape Town market and having a direct connection is extremely valuable for business and tourism. We also look forward to the increased cargo potential offered by the route as it is expected that the service will add over 1 500 tonnes of cargo capacity in the first season. We wish Air Belgium all the best with this new route and look forward to building increased tourism and trade relations between our two destinations.”
Cape Times