Airlink will commence a scheduled Johannesburg to Kasane (Botswana) service, from Friday 22 March 2012.
The initial schedule will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing OR Tambo at 11:45 arriving back in Johannesburg at 15:50 to optimize further outbound onward connections. From August 2013 the service will operate daily.
The addition of this route brings Airlink’s route network to a total of 31 destinations serviced, of which 17 are over-border destinations.
Airlink already offers daily services between Johannesburg and Maun and the opportunity to extend the number of point’s serviced between South Africa and Botswana, is extremely pleasing for Airlink.
Airlink’s believes that the opening up of the Johannesburg – Kasane route to a second carrier is of significance to the tourism industry, not only will this complement the incumbent carrier Air Botswana’s services but will also open up additional source markets to the globally renowned Chobe destination.
Airlink will operate the daily Kasane service using one of its 12 Embraer ERJ 135 37seat regional jets.
Kasane is close to Africa’s Four Corners, where four countries almost meet: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The town lies on the south bank of the wide Chobe River which forms the border with the extreme tip of Namibia’s Caprivi Strip. Nearby a second border post serves the road into Zimbabwe which runs 70km east to Victoria Falls.
The African Safari experience is a product marketed globally. Botswana, Chobe and Zimbabwe feature a unique wildlife game viewing experience and the opportunity to extend itineraries to include Victoria Falls, is a unique add-on feature of this route.
Airlink believes that global seamless connectivity with SAA and its Star Alliance partner’s flights coupled with a wide marketing reach will contribute to significant growth in the Kasane market and looks forward with enthusiasm to playing a complementary role to the benefit of all tourism product stakeholders.