Airlink Reviews 

If you're trying to book from overseas get a South African friend to book it for you.

Their online system blocks every foreign credit card

Airlink is a good well, run airline though not cheap by any stretch of the imagination
However Skybucks their loyalty program is a joke, don't bother

My son was on the 07:00 Airlink flight from Gqeberha to OR Tambo. All four airport access-control entrances were experiencing problems, causing delays to enter the airport and leaving everyone rushing to check in.
When we reached Airlink, there was no one in the ribbon queues, so we went directly to the open check-in desk. Instead of simply assisting us, the staff member gave us grief for not walking through all the empty barriers.
We fly frequently, and unfortunately this is not the first time we've found Airlink staff unfriendly, unhelpful and very confrontational. On a previous trip, I even ended up assisting an elderly passenger to the bathroom because the Airlink ground staff member at OR Tambo, responsible for assisting her had abandoned her in a wheelchair at the gate. In our experience, FlySafair staff are consistently much more friendly and accommodating.

Airlink service
Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg
How NOT to fly!

I have been a loyal airlink customer- I am South African and live in the UK.
I don’t fly into Durban anymore- as my family are in Pietermaritzburg- time/ convenience and ease matters to people like me.
I arrived in SA on the 19/8- my TUMI bag( expensive- I’m a frequent flyer) was maliciously damaged between JNB to PMB.
I was handed an open bag with a zipper open on Pietermaritzburg. And this is when my wild goose chase started!
I was told go home/ empty your bag/ bring the bag back/ don’t remove tags/ report it to the police/ fill out an affidavit.
4 long pieces of paperwork. ( I am in SA with 3 year old - visiting my mother with dementia for 2 weeks only)
I can only describe my experience with Airlink as appalling. I have no suitcase to return to London with on the 2/9/26. I have had multiple emails/ different people tell me different things at PMB. Foreign travellers from the 1st world, who are accustomed to service , should not use this airline under any circumstances. Even more worrying is never use an expensive bag!! And it is by no means low cost!

As a frequent business traveler in Africa, I regularly fly with Airlink out of necessity. Unfortunately, my experience with your cabin crew has repeatedly been disappointing. The service is often unprofessional and disrespectful toward passengers. For a airline serving business travelers, this level of service falls far below expectations.

Flight 4Z611
Shocking staff attitude, who take no responsibility or accountability. Terrible customer service.
6am Flight (meaning 3am wake and travel) delayed by 3 hours. No warning or notification on app or checking counter.
No compensation or kindness or decent customer service. Just indifference from Airlink staff. “Your problem.
Not mine.” Pity I was
Hoping for some SA Ubuntu which was sorely missing from SA Airlink.

I was booked on the 12:20 flight today and arrived at the airport with my checked luggage and my dog, having already paid approximately R900 for my pet’s travel.

After checking in, I was told to take my pet to the Fragile section. I then proceeded to the boarding gates, only to be called back from the security queue and told I had to accompany my pet to the scanners instead. This unnecessary change alone wasted around 10 minutes.

At the scanners, I was suddenly told that my pet carrier had to be disassembled. I have flown with my dog using this exact same carrier before, and it has never once been required to be dismantled. This was an unexpected requirement that I could never have anticipated.

Security then spent over 20 minutes unsuccessfully trying to dismantle the carrier while I repeatedly asked whether I was going to miss my flight. I eventually had to insist that someone from the check-in counters be called. After another delay, a lady arrived with pliers, and I ended up dismantling the carrier myself because the security staff had disappeared.

To make matters worse, one of the security staff members told me the situation was my fault because I hadn’t brought my own pliers. Expecting passengers to travel with tools to dismantle a pet carrier is completely unreasonable.

After all the delays caused by your own staff and procedures, I was told I could not be placed on the next available flight because there wasn’t enough time. There wasn’t enough time because Airlink created the delay.

The consequences were far greater than simply missing a flight. I had to let my 75-year-old father fly to Cape Town alone while I remained stranded at OR Tambo trying to resolve a situation entirely outside my control. At the time of writing this review, I am still at the airport, repeatedly being told, “I understand your frustration, but we can’t do anything.”

Instead of accepting responsibility, Airlink appears to be blaming me for missing my flight. I fully complied with every instruction given to me. This delay resulted from an unexpected requirement, inconsistent procedures, and staff who struggled to resolve an issue involving a carrier that has never previously needed to be disassembled.

After waiting for almost two hours, at approximately 2:00 pm, a manager named Letta finally came to speak to me. I explained the entire incident in detail, but she insisted that Airlink had done nothing wrong because airport security operates separately from the airline. When I asked to speak to someone responsible for security, she told me that she was the highest authority available to me at that time.

I understand that security personnel may be employed or managed by a different entity. However, an airport does not function as a collection of completely unrelated organisations. The airline, check-in staff, baggage and pet-handling services, security personnel and boarding teams operate as one interconnected passenger journey. I was at the scanners with my dog because I was following instructions given to me as part of Airlink’s pet-travel process. Airlink had accepted my booking, checked in my luggage, charged me approximately R900 to transport my dog and directed me through the process that ultimately caused the delay.

Airlink therefore cannot simply detach itself from everything that happened once I reached the security scanner and place the entire financial burden on me. I did not independently choose to leave the boarding area or delay myself. I was called back, redirected and required to remain while staff attempted to dismantle a carrier that had never previously needed to be dismantled. I repeatedly warned them that I was going to miss my flight, yet no one acted with sufficient urgency or coordinated with the airline to protect my booking.

Despite this, Letta informed me that I would have to purchase another ticket at my own expense because Airlink would accept no involvement in the delay that caused me to miss my flight.

I ultimately had no choice but to book another flight at the last minute and pay an extremely high fare simply to get home. What disappointed me most was Airlink’s complete refusal to offer any meaningful assistance or acknowledge that the breakdown occurred within an airport process directly connected to my Airlink journey.

I followed every instruction, cooperated fully and could not reasonably have anticipated being required to travel with tools to dismantle my dog’s carrier. The experience caused significant stress, financial loss and unnecessary disruption, and I was left feeling completely abandoned as a customer.

Airlink boarding staff refused to check out left my elderly parents age 79 and 74 for boarding. My parents arrived at the boarding counter when the last passanger was being assisted to check out for boarding.
My parents were told they are late and they were not permitted check out for boarding nor to board the bus to the aircraft that was going to Umthatha.

They were left by the airlink team at the boarding gate for two hours until I demanded the supervisor at check out counter B89 to get an assistant to fetch my parents. If I did not arrived at the airport, my parents were never going to be assisted by airlink staff.

Would have to be the worst airline I have flown. 2 out of 3 flight were late which completely ruined other plans. 2 out of 3 flights ran out of food by the time they got to the back rows. Will never use them again.

I will never fly this airline in the future. I will drive across Africa before having any contact with these people. Their employees went into my gate checked bag and stole quite a few items, including a large sum of money. I had a carry on bag and was told there was no room on the plane and my bag was taken from me. When I arrived at my final destination, I noticed someone had tampered with my bag. That is when I discovered my loss. When I returned through Johannesburg, the only thing the staff would say is that it is under investigation. I am sure their luggage handler employees supplement their income quite generously. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth about Africa.

We bought our tickets from Cape Town to Nelspruit in January 2026 for flighing in June. We could chose our seats (3A and 3C). It was not exstra legroom, just normal seats. We got it 'free of charge' and do have a print out of the booking. When we checked in yesterday (27th June) that seats were not available and we had seats in Row 18. I was not impressed! We waited an hour in the aircraft before taking off. Our baggage stood in the rain for more that 30 minutes! Everthing in our bags were wet!! Really, I am not impressed. Reason for hour delay: passengers being late and weather....

Don't buy anything from them!

They held onto some of my belongings that they claimed were "dangerous" (even though half of them weren't). I told them I could come back for them a few weeks later, and they said that was no problem. When I arrived at their office on the agreed date, my belongings were gone, supposedly because they couldn't keep them for more than a week (even though no one had warned me about this; on the contrary, I was told it wasn't a problem).

I think some of their employees are taking advantage of this situation to steal from customers.
And now they refuse to refund me for anything, even the confiscated items that weren't dangerous at all.
I just lost more than 300 euros because of them and their terrible staff.

This company is dishonest, their customer service is disastrous, beware!

Surprised to see poor reviews as I had 2 flights with Airlink in last couple weeks & was pleasantly surprised how good they were!
Communication re gate & boarding time via mobile, perfect on time departure & arrival, quick luggage return & even the boxed snack/meal was yummy compared to most carriers! Staff pleasant & efficient.
I’ve flown loads of airlines in dozens of countries & never written a review before. For a small airline from other previous experiences they rock in my books!

Terrible app to navigate. The refund process is even worse—every email comes with a new excuse. Trying to call is a complete waste of time, with calls disconnecting almost every time. Very frustrating experience overall.

I cancelled my tickets valued at $600. I cancelled because I wasn't sure my dlight to harare via doha would be cancelled due to the middle east crisis. I was told that my tickets were open and I could rebook anytime within the year. I managed to get to harare and rebooked the exact dates and times and they charged an extra $1000 on top of the $600 I had already paid. I feel I was ripped of by this airline. I definitely will not be flying again with them

Flights were on time. Aircraft’s were in good condition. On both flights staff were treated customers with an unfriendly attitude. This was consistent across the whole cabin crew. Customer service and engagement training would be needed.

Delays on Delays

Delayed 3h on my way to George, delayed 3h on the way back. Shouldn't be neck-to-neck on time with a bus service...

🥰wonderful expérience with them. The staff was really cool ,hostess and steward really nice. The food tasted good also . I had 4 flights with them and I loved the expérience.

I only had 2 problems . The time connexion with my flight from JHB to Maputo was too short and ended up missing my flight. I explained to an agent in the counter , she was not empathic at all saying that I had to buy a new ticket and also refused any gesture. Went to another counter for the check in and the lady booked for me a flight for the day after.
The other problem is that the flight always arrives late .

Apart from that everything was good.

Booked a refundable business class flight with them.
Flight canceled, no refund given, always stating: you are " in the line". Since Jan now....
Do not book