Airlink to Resume Port Elizabeth – Bloemfontein Connection

South African regional carrier Airlink, which operates as a franchise partner of South African Airways (SAA), is to resume domestic flights between Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein. The service will initially be operated twice every week from September 5 using a 29-seat BAe Jetstream 41. The resumption of the flight is in response to increasing demand for direct links between the two cities.

Since Airlink stopped flying the route at the start of 2010 no other carrier has entered the market but still around 4,000 O&D passengers are travelling every year between the two cities using connecting services. In its last full year of operation (2009), Airlink carried an estimated 10,000 O&D passengers and on its return to the market would expect to stimulate the core demand to similar levels.