SA Airlink will continue its services to city

SA AIRLINK flights to and from the Kimberley Airport will continue as usual and are unlikely to see any change in schedule in the foreseeable future.

This is according to spokesperson for the company, Sandra Tasker, in the wake of the announcement that the service between Pretoria and Cape Town has been suspended.

In a statement issued by the airline yesterday morning, Airlink announced the suspension of services between the two major centres with the company’s CEO, Rodger Foster, explaining that this decision had been coming for some time.

“This was not a decision taken lightly, but after almost three years, the route has not developed as we expected it would and in order to stem losses, we will suspend services from May 8 2018,” Foster explained.

Since mid-August 2015 the Wonderboom-Cape Town service has provided Tshwane-based government officials, private sector businesses and leisure travellers with a convenient service between Pretoria and the Mother City.

Foster said that a compounding factor had been Government’s efforts to reduce their travel expenses.

“We are not closing the door, as we believe the Pretoria-Cape Town connection is important and could potentially be viable in the future,” he said.

“With this in mind, we will continually reassess the market and the economy so that we can resume the service when the conditions are conducive.”

Meanwhile, in response to media inquires, Tasker said yesterday that the suspension of flights was limited to the route between Wonderboom and Cape Town, adding that Airlink’s services would continue unabated to and from the Northern Cape’s main airport.

“No other routes will be affected and Airlink’s services to Kimberley, both from Cape Town and Johannesburg will continue as normal.”

“This route is not in jeopardy.”