British Airways signs codeshare with South Africa’s AirLink

British Airways has announced a codeshare partnership with Airlink, improving connectivity between the UK, Europe, North America and more than 15 destinations in Southern Africa.

With bases in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban in South Africa, Airlink is a premium regional airline with a wide-reaching network of cities in 14 countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia.

The agreement means British Airways’ customers traveling 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.

 Members of British Airways’ loyalty program, the Executive Club, can earn Avios when flying on Airlink flights on a British Airways’ codeshare journey. Avios is the programme’s currency, which can be used as part-payment towards Reward Flights or upgrades, as well as hotel stays, car hire and more.

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.”

In total, 18 destinations are available as codeshare options when travelling from Heathrow via Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Codeshare tickets are now available to book for travel from February 15, 2023 onwards, said a British Airways statement. Other Southern Africa destinations are pending government approval and might join the codeshare agreement at a later date, it added.