Dubai-based carrier Emirates and Johannesburg-headquartered carrier Airlink have officially activated their codeshare partnership.
The latest agreement allows customers to benefit from connections and a single booking reference across eight domestic South African cities via the airline’s gateways in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.
Some of the new route options include Bloemfontein, Hoedspruit, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley, George, and East London, among others.
Emirates currently offers double daily flights to Dubai from Johannesburg, daily flights to Dubai from Cape Town and five weekly flights to and from Durban.
With the revival of its South African Airways partnership, as well as its codeshare agreement with Airlink, and interlines with Cemair and FlySafair, the airline has expanded its reach to 79 regional points in southern Africa.
Emirates said that travel itineraries availing of this codeshare agreement are now open for booking, with tickets booked from June 2022 available for travel immediately.
In May, alongside the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market, Emirates signed an MoU with the South African Tourism Board to promote tourism and boost visitor arrivals and inbound traffic to South Africa.
By way of the MoU, the South Africa Tourism Board will work closely with the airline to support travel trade partners and tour operators across the Emirates’ network and develop and promote special packages and promotional giveaways, encourage incentives, and undertake other marketing initiatives to boost visits to South Africa from destinations across the carrier’s network.