Airlink Expands Cape Town Network with New Lanseria and Mauritius Links

October 6, 2026 in Business, Transport, Travel & Tourism by Editor

Airlink – inaugural flight lands at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in Mauritius -02 Oct 2026

Airlink is expanding its Cape Town network with new daily Lanseria flights and a twice-weekly direct Mauritius service, strengthening the city’s domestic and regional connectivity.

 

Airlink is expanding its Cape Town network on two fronts, adding a new domestic connection to Johannesburg’s Lanseria International Airport while extending its reach into the Indian Ocean with a direct service to Mauritius.

The moves give travellers from the Western Cape new alternatives both within South Africa and beyond the country’s borders, while allowing the privately owned regional carrier to build more traffic around Cape Town rather than relying exclusively on connections through Johannesburg.

From 4 December 2026, Airlink will introduce daily flights between Cape Town and Lanseria, its first scheduled domestic service to the airport. The route, which will be operated using the carrier’s 98-seat Embraer E190, will initially run with two daily return flights and will increase to four daily return services from 22 March 2027, according to the airline.

The Lanseria service is intended to provide an alternative to Johannesburg’s larger O.R. Tambo International Airport, particularly for passengers travelling to and from western Gauteng and neighbouring parts of North West province.

The initial schedule provides morning and afternoon options in both directions. Flights from Cape Town to Lanseria will depart at 09:20 and 13:30, arriving at 11:35 and 15:45 respectively. Return flights from Lanseria will depart at 09:10 and 13:00, reaching Cape Town at 11:35 and 15:25.

Airlink CEO de Villiers Engelbrecht said the route was intended to give passengers another option for travel between the two regions while complementing the airline’s existing services to O.R. Tambo.

The Lanseria launch comes only days after Airlink began a twice-weekly non-stop service from Cape Town to Mauritius, on October 2.

The Cape Town-Mauritius route is Airlink’s first service to the Indian Ocean island and removes the need for passengers travelling between the two destinations to connect through Johannesburg.

The route is operated by Airlink’s 124-seat Embraer E195-E2, including 12 Business Class seats, with flights operating on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Flight 4Z350 leaves Cape Town at 10:05 and arrives in Mauritius at 17:15, while the return service, 4Z351, departs Mauritius at 18:15 and reaches Cape Town at 22:35.

While the two new routes serve distinctly different markets, together they point to a broader effort by Airlink to strengthen Cape Town as a point of origin and destination.

The Lanseria service targets domestic business and leisure traffic while providing an alternative gateway to Johannesburg’s western suburbs and the North West. The Mauritius route, meanwhile, connects Cape Town directly with an established Indian Ocean tourism and business market.

The route comes as Mauritius continues to attract international visitors through its established tourism industry, which encompasses beach resorts, golf, marine recreation and the island’s multicultural heritage. The country received more than 1.4 million visitors in 2025, according to figures cited by Airlink, with South Africa among its largest source markets.

Beyond tourism, the new connection serves an established commercial relationship. More than 140 South African businesses operate in Mauritius across sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, consumer goods and information and communications technology. The island’s financial services and business process outsourcing industries also support commercial links with South Africa and other markets.