Airlink to start flights to Kinshasa next year

South African regional and domestic airline Airlink announced on Friday that it will start scheduled flights between Johannesburg and Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with effect from March 28 next year. (The carrier already operates flights between Johannesburg and Lubumbashi, which is the main centre for the DRC’s mining belt.) “The [DRC] is a significant market for Airlink,” pointed out Airlink CEO and MD Rodger Foster. “We first stepped into the ring in 2020 with flights to Lubumbashi and now we are ready to follow through by adding Kinshasa to our regional network. This will give customers on the route far greater reach and travel options than they currently enjoy. Kinshasa is a regional heavyweight. Besides serving as the country’s political and economic capital, it is Africa’s most populous city with over 17-million inhabitants. With Airlink’s combination of schedule, connections and great service we expect to have a knock-out response.”