Emirates has signed an agreement with local South African carrier Airlink, while Qatar Airways signed an agreement with low-cost carrier FlySafair. These agreements will considerably widen the Middle Eastern carriers' reach into southern Africa.
Emirates' agreement with Airlink will provide its customers enhanced connectivity via its gateways in 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 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 including Gaborone, Maun and Kasane, Botswana; Vilanculos and Maputo, Mozambique; Victoria Falls, Harare and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; Windhoek, Namibia; and Lusaka and Ndola, Zambia.
Qatar's agreement with FlySafair will enable connections to ten domestic destinations in South Africa, including Port Elizabeth, East London and George.