SA Airlink Ltd., known and trading simply as Airlink, is a regional airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is privately owned, and its main activity is to act as a feeder airline between small towns and larger hub airports. It now operates under its own IATA code: 4Z.
History
Airlink was formed in 1992, following the purchase of the liquidated Link Airways business, which had incorporated a range of other airlines: Midlands Aviation, Lowveld Aviation Services, Magnum Airways, Border Air and Citi Air. It has a 40% share in Swaziland Airlink. In 1997 Airlink joined South African Airways and South African Express Airways in a strategic alliance which is governed by a franchise agreement. On 23 December 2009 the SA Civil Aviation Authority grounded their fleet of 13 BAe Jetstream 41 planes. Following audits of the airline's procedures and inspection of the grounded aircraft they were returned to service. A problem with a seal in the aircraft's Honeywell engines was found to be the cause of the safety issues. On 3 May 2017, Airlink became the first airline in history to make a commercial charter flight to Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, landing an Avro RJ85 at the newly constructed Saint Helena Airport to pick up passengers stranded there when the island's only link with the outside world, the British Royal Mail Ship RMS St Helena, suffered propeller damage. No other commercial airliner landed at St Helena until 14 October 2017, when Airlink began history's first scheduled commercial airline service to Saint Helena Airport, with an Embraer E190-100IGW with 78 passengers aboard arriving after a flight of about six hours from Johannesburg with a stop at Walvis Bay, Namibia. The flight began once-a-week scheduled service between Johannesburg and Saint Helena.
Corporate affairs
Ownership
Airlink is privately owned, but has published the names of its shareholders:
Sishen Iron Ore Company Community Development Trust, via its subsidiary Sishen Iron Ore Company Community Development Trust Investment Holdings, acquired a 32.51% stake in the company in June 2012. The original founders of Airlink, Rodger Foster and Barrie Webb, remain shareholders.
The Airlink fleet consists of the following aircraft:
Fleet History
Aircraft Type
Total Aircraft
Avro RJ85
12
Dornier Do 228
2
Boeing 737-200
1
Incidents and accidents
On 24 September 2009, Airlink Flight 8911, a BAe Jetstream 41, crashed in the suburb of Merebank shortly after takeoff from Durban International Airport, injuring its crew of three and one person on the ground. The captain, Allister Freeman, died as a result of complications from his injuries on 7 October 2009.
On 7 December 2009, an Airlink Embraer ERJ 135 on scheduled flight SA 8625, overshot the runway when trying to land in wet weather at George Airport; no fatalities were reported. The flight from Cape Town to George was cleared for an instrument landing approach and prevailing weather conditions at the time were overcast, with light rain. The landing appeared normal, however the aircraft did not vacate the runway but instead veered to the right and collided with approach lights before it burst through the airport's perimeter fence, coming to rest in a nose-down attitude on a public road. The aircraft was damaged beyond economical repair. Probable cause: The crew were unable to decelerate the aircraft to a safe stop due to ineffective braking of the aircraft on a wet runway surface, resulting in an overrun. Two months before the accident the runway was resurfaced with a fog spray sealant. The George area was experiencing a drought at the time and on the day of the accident, it was the first rain they had received since the resurfacing. The fog sprayed surface caused a degradation of the surface friction and promoted the formation of pooling on the surface. After touch down the aircraft started aquaplaning. The crew veered to the right to prevent a collision with the localiser antenna. The runway was found non-compliant with ICAO annexe 14 and was subsequently resurfaced. Airlink's insurers took legal action against the state-owned Airports Company of South Africa.
On 8 November 2017 an Avro 146-RJ85A, doing business as Airlink flight 8103, suffered an uncontained engine failure of its No. 2 Honeywell LF 507 engine due to the LP retaining nut becoming dislodged causing the 4th stage LP turbine disk to disengage from the LP turbine shaft. The resulting failure caused the turbine's blades to all detach from the disk and damage the No. 1 engine's nacelle and causing the engine to undergo an un-commanded engine shutdown. The aircraft landed safely and no one was injured.
