“This was not a decision taken lightly, but after almost 17 months, the route has not developed as we expected it would, impacted by the pressures of our economy and the relatively small catchment of the Pietermaritzburg resident market. In order to stem losses, we will suspend services from 1 October 2018,” explained Airlink’s, Karin Murray.

Since 6 February 2017 the Pietermaritzburg to Cape Town service has provided locally based government officials, private sector businesses, industries and communities located in and around Pinetown, Kloof, Hillcrest, Howick, Midlands and leisure travellers with a convenient direct service between Pietermaritzburg and the Mother City. Airlink currently operates daily return flights on the route, using 37-seat Embraer ERJ135LR regional jets to deliver an effective full-service value proposition offering on the route.

Sadly, the route has not become profitable, despite our collaborative best efforts – including significant marketing initiatives by the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce, to promote the connection.

Airlink would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the suspension of the service.

Customers holding confirmed tickets for travel after the 29 September 2018 will be offered a full refund.

Speaking during a brief signing ceremony at Dana Air’s Corporate Head office in Lagos, the Group Managing Director of Dana Air, Jacky Hathiramani said, ‘we have taken a bold step towards achieving our strategic route and fleet expansion program. With this partnership, we shall be adding some brand new aircraft to our fleet soon.’’

‘We have also had advanced talks with some other notable aircraft manufacturers and very soon, some of our aircraft outside the country on maintenance will also be arriving. This is part of our desire to provide options for our guests who have also been requesting us to consider some under-served cities in Nigeria. We want to assure our guests of our commitment towards providing safe, reliable, affordable and world-class air transport services in Nigeria.’’

Also speaking at the signing ceremony, the CEO of Asky airlines, Mr. Ahadu Simachew said, ‘Dana Air having survived the sundry issues in the aviation industry for ten years and still waxing stronger, appears to us as the most experienced and well-managed airline in Nigeria, with a very strong, passionate and creative management team. We are happy to have reached an agreement and we believe this is good for Nigeria and Africa.’’

In a statment, Airlink said it hopes that this service discontinuation is temporary. Airlink will continue working with the South African Aeronautical Authority to resolve the aeropolitical constraints that have unexpectedly brought about the discontinuation.

Airlink’s flights between Johannesburg and St Helena are not affected and will continue operating normally. The weekly flight departs from Johannesburg for St Helena on Saturdays at 09h00 routing via Windhoek for re-fuelling purposes. The return flight from St Helena departing at 14h30 to Johannesburg will normally operate non-stop but may on some occasions require a refuelling technical stop at Windhoek depending on the strengths and directions of the high altitude winds and the forecast meteorological conditions at Johannesburg.

Tickets can be purchased to fly between Johannesburg and St Helena and there are multiple single ticket multi sector interline connection possibilities available to our customers, with the Johannesburg hub offering abundant interconnectivity especially for customers originating or terminating their itineraries in Cape Town. Please contact your preferred IATA travel agent for assistance in this regard, or contact Airlink’s reservations desk on +27 11 451 7413.

Customers holding confirmed tickets travelling between Cape Town and St Helena will re-route via Johannesburg at no additional cost to the customer. Airlink will continue to advise affected customers of arrangements prior to their departure travel date.

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The route will complement the existing operations by Air Mauritius and allow both airlines to offer passengers a unique daily product between Nairobi and Mauritius.

The Nairobi – Mauritius route will have a great impact on Kenya Airways up coming direct non-stop flights to New York by reinforcing its attractiveness to the American Premium Leisure travellers.

Commenting on the launch, Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and CEO Sebastian Mikosz said: “We are very excited by this new opening that will allow daily connections between two of the most attractive countries in the Region. Furthermore, this new flight will have a great impact on our New York flight as it will improve our attractiveness on the Premium Leisure segment.”

The existing code-share agreement with Air Mauritius’ three weekly flights will also be applicable on Kenya Airways’ flights. The national carrier will operate from June 2018 with four flights a week.

Kenya Airways will operate flights between Nairobi and Mauritius on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Flights will depart Addis Ababa at Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 22h15,arriving in Dublin at 4h25. Flights will then depart Dublin at 5h25, arriving in Chicago at 7h55. The return service will depart Chicago on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays at 09h55, arriving in 07h40.

West Bound, Passengers from the entire continent of Africa will connect to Chicago and beyond through our Addis Ababa hub in the late evenings; likewise, East bound travelers from the USA will also connect to all over Africa in the morning through Addis. In both cases, the connectivity is designed in such a way that we are able to avail one of the shortest total travel times for our customers.

Regarding the launch of the service, Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, remarked: “Chicago will be our 4th destination in the U.S. and our 7th in the Americas. It is the third biggest city in the U.S. and one of the most important global aviation hubs. We will be filling a critical air connectivity vacuum as our flights will be the only direct service between Chicago and Africa.

The route will be operated with a Boeing 787, one of the most technologically advanced aircraft in the carrier’s fleet family, featuring up-to-date amenities with redefined travel experiences.

Chicago is the main hub of our Star Alliance partner, United Airlines and the flight will be operated together with United to avail the best product for travelers from all over the U.S. connecting to more than 55 destinations in Africa.

The flight will further boost the growing economic and people-to-people relations between the U.S. and Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular by enabling greater flow of trade, investment and tourism.”

This flight has got exclusive timings having morning departures. You can have now a relaxed breakfast with early morning game drive in Serengeti and take the flight to Kigali at 09:15 hrs LT. You can depart from Kigali at leisure at 10:55 hrs LT and arrive in Serengeti as early as 135:5 LT to get half day game drive.

You save a night stay and get value for money by optimising your game viewing time by flying with Auric Air on its new Kigali route. For more details and bookings contact Auric Air on auric@auricair.com

Earlier this month the airline also announced the introduction of its new transit lounge.

Travellers can look forward to complimentary hot coffee served up alongside free high speed WiFi connectivity. Auric Air’s passengers can relax in the lounge’s couches and catch up on their choice of local news publications, or use our charging station to get their mobile devices ready to go.