Airlink has announced that its air services between Johannesburg and St Helena Island will now perform an en-route technical fuel-stop in Walvis Bay Namibia rather than Windhoek, starting Saturday 7 April 2019.
The flight schedule will remain the same; the flight departs from Johannesburg ORTIA at 09h00 arriving at St Helena International Airport at 13h15 Local Time. The return flight departs St Helena at 14h30 arriving at Johannesburg at 21h15 SA Time. The service is operated by an Embraer 190 E-jet.
The return flight from St Helena will normally operate non-stop.
Due to the flight duration and prevailing headwinds, an en-route technical fuel-stop is necessary. This refuelling stop currently takes place at Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport, which was initially chosen because of the possibility of connectivity.
With Walvis Bay located at 300ft above sea-level with cooler meteorological conditions compared to Windhoek at 5600ft above sea level, Airlink will benefit by accommodating an additional 11 customers between Johannesburg and St Helena Island. Currently the flight is restricted to 87 seats including 6 business class seats on departing from Windhoek due to high temperature and high airport elevation.