British Airways and Airlink South Africa sign a codeshare agreement

British Airways have found a new partner in South Africa, with the airline announcing a codeshare with Airlink.

British Airways and Airlink, flying together – Image, British Airways

The codeshare will allow British Airways passengers to access 18 destinations in Southern Africa with Airlink.

Airlink has bases in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban in South Africa, with a network of 14 countries served by the airline.

The agreement means British Airways’ customers travelling from or transiting through London will be able to connect to their final destination via Cape Town or Johannesburg on a single ticket.  This will offer more choice and flexibility for those travelling on to one of 18 towns and cities, such as Windhoek in Namibia and Durban in South Africa.

British Airways currently flies twice daily between London Heathrow and Johannesburg with A380 aircraft, twice daily between London Heathrow and Cape Town with B777 and A350 aircraft and three times per week between London Gatwick and Cape Town with B777 aircraft.

For those flyers who are members of British AirwaysExecutive Club, you can earn Avios on Airlink flights as part of a British Airways’ codeshare journey

18 destinations available via the codeshare

In total, 18 destinations are available as codeshare options when travelling from Heathrow via Johannesburg and Cape Town. Examples provided by BA include:

• London Heathrow to Durban via Johannesburg
• London Heathrow to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, via Cape Town or Johannesburg
• London Heathrow to Skukuza, South Africa via Cape Town or Johannesburg
• London Heathrow to Windhoek, Namibia via Cape Town or Johannesburg
• London Heathrow to Walvis Bay, Namibia via Cape Town or Johannesburg

Codeshare tickets are now available to book on www.ba.com, for travel from 15 February 2023 onwards.

Other Southern African destinations are pending government approval and might join the codeshare agreement at a later date.

In Quotes

Neil Chernoff, British Airways’ Director of Network and Alliances, said:

“Our flights to Cape Town and Johannesburg continue to be as popular as ever with our customers, so we’re pleased to be able to open up more options in the Southern African region. Our partnership with Airlink means that customers will be able to book a full journey on one ticket, allowing seamless travel all the way from London to their final destination.”

Airlink’s CEO and Managing Director, Rodger Foster, said:

“This is an important next step in our partnership with British Airways, which has a phenomenal global reach into the most important markets for our region. The marriage of our two networks will benefit both British Airways’ and Airlink’s customers, giving them even more choice with a wide range of itinerary options and connectivity possibilities.”

Filling in the Comair gap

In the past, British Airways had a franchised operator in South Africa called Comair. This airline flew a subsection of its fleet as a full British Airways franchise – with painted aircraft, crew and all.

However, Operations were suspended on 31 May 2022 as the liquidity ran out, with the company placed into liquidation on the 9th of June 2022.

Since then, British Airways has had no reach or codeshares in the area until now.

For both airlines, it’s a chance to extend their reach beyond their traditional homes with minimal effort, allowing it passengers to get where they need to.

And without the need to build a new franchise operation.