As part of our South African Safari trip, we spent one night in Johannesburg before flying with Airlink to Skukuza Airport in the Kruger National Park. We had arrived in Johannesburg the day before, flying Qatar Airways business class from New York to Doha, and then Doha to Johannesburg. We first spent some time at the very nice Bidvest Premier Lounge at Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport, before flying Airlink to Skukuza. Here I’ll review our experience on that flight

Specifically, I’ll be reviewing Airlink flight 4Z865, operated by an Embraer E135, from Johannesburg JNB to Skukuza SZK, departing May 17 2026 at 1:05PM and arriving at 2:05 PM.

Briefly, given that this is a very short domestic flight on a mostly domestic airlines, this flight was very good! Airlink honestly delivers better service in economy than any US or European airline out there. Specifically, I was impressed with the full service that we received on what amounted to no more than 45 minutes from takeoff to landing, including (alcoholic) drinks and snacks. Without a doubt, this is the best way to travel to Kruger National Park.

How I booked this flight

I booked this flight for my husband and myself with cash, directly with Airlink on their website. We booked this flight fairly late, in mid January (for the mid-May trip), and paid 2771.07ZAR, or $168.79 for an economy class ticket. I say ‘late’ because if we had booked earlier we may have paid less, since by the time we booked, the ‘saver’ fare had already been sold out.

While Airlink does offer business and economy classes, not every flight offers business. The JNB-SZK route only has economy class, whereas for example the flight to Cape Town (JNB-CPT) does offer business class.

Within the economy class segment, Airlink offers four fare buckets, titled Plain, Variable, Elegant and Magnificent Sunbird. When we booked the Plain Sunbird was no longer available, sow e booked Variable Sunbird. As you can see below, the differences between these fares roughly map to Saver/Basic, Standard, Flex, and ‘Comfort’ type fare buckets, with the changes generally being in the ability to get refunds or change the flight. Magnificent Sunbird provides more baggage allowance and lounge access.

I want to emphasize that even at the Saver ‘Plan Sunbird’ bucket, Airlink is very generous with fare inclusions. Just have a look: 20kg checked baggage and free seat selection anywhere in the plane (not just the back rows), is something you really don’t see with virtually any basic economy ticket at any airline, especially in the US and Europe. Kudos to Airlink!

Check-in and ground experience

JNB’s domestic Terminal B is a fairly long building with the security checkpoint at its far end. While we had checked in online, we had some bags to drop. The Airlink check-in counters are somewhere halfway there, and does offer a priority lane if you’re in business class or are an elite member. We used the general line, but were helped within five minutes or so, quickly and efficiently.

The security checkpoint is at the far end of the terminal, and does offer a priority line on the right side. Otherwise there are two lines that divide the checkpoint into left and right halves, to speed up the flow. Security didn’t take very long, and soon we were off to the Bidvest Premier Lounge, which I reviewed before.

About 40 minutes before our flight we walked over to gate E5, where our flight was going to depart. Airlink will actually send you an email 12-24 hours in advance with the gate assignment, which is nice. E5 is one of the bus gates downstairs. Another email is sent to remind you of the start of boarding, which started about 30 minutes in advance.

Boarding actually started exactly on time. Since it is a small plane, there weren’t many people to check, but all roller carryons were checked in as the overhead bins are too small for those on this plane. So do take any important stuff out of there in advance. Following document check we were guided to a bus that was ready to transport us to the plane, and we were accompanied by the gate agent. During the 10-minute drive, she explained the boarding procedure, highlighting that those with status were to board first, and then general boarding would commence.

Soon after we arrived at our E135! Isn’t she cute?

We waited a little bit on the bus before we were motioned to step out for boarding. We left our carryon bags in front, which were quickly whisked away to the aft cargo hold. We then boarded using the door-integrated stairs, and made right turn into the passenger cabin.

Airlink E135 seating

The E135 is a small aircraft by many metrics, be it cabin width, mac passengers, ceiling height… The moment you get in it’s clear you’re on a bit of a puddle jumper – even if it’s still a jet aircraft.

Note the 1-2 cabin layout, with a single row of seats on the left, which personally I love as you have the row entirely to yourself. The cabin finishes and seats on this particular E135 was wonderfully retro, with pretty thick, well-padded seats. Note the lack of overhead bins on the right, and how small the bins are on the left, both in terms of depth and height.

I had selected seat 2A for myself, the window seat on the left side of the plane, without any neighbors. I selected this seat for free, mind you. Can you imagine that on a US airline, on a basic economy fare?

The seat is actually quite comfortable. The seat is a little old, but that means it’s well-padded in a way that economy seats (and some business class seats) just aren’t anymore these days. They are a little narrow though, though for me that wasn’t much of an issue.

There are zero frills on this seat. You have a good-sized tray table that folds down from the seat in front, and there is a literature pocket that held Airlink’s in-flight magazine, a safety card and a sick bag.

The overhead console included buttons to control the light and to call the flight attendant, as well as an air vent.

Overall, this is a perfectly fine onboard hard product for a flight of this length. All things considered, despite the seat being quite narrow, it’s perfectly comfortable.

Departure from Johannesburg

The door closed early, at 12:58. The joys of a small plane is that boarding is fast and we can actually leave on time! The captain came on the PA to welcome everybody and to announce a 40-minute flight time. The single flight attendant on this flight approached me to ask if I was okay assisting in an emergency, sicne I was seated by the front door, specifically instructing me to bring her to safety in case she was incapacitated. I agreed. She then provided a safety briefing to us sitting by the front door, and then she delivered the safety briefing to the rest of the passengers.

We then started taxi at exactly 1:05, our precise departure time. Kudos again Airlink! During th taxi I had a great time spotting the local airlines, including a whole lot of Airlink, the occasional South African Airways A 320 (what remains of the once global airline), as well as other airlines from South Africa and it neighbors.

By got to runway 3L by 1:09 and turned onto the runway for immediate takeoff, rocking forward by 1:10. We got into the air swiftly and climbed into the South African sky for our short flight to Skukuza. It was fun seeing the lineup of widebodies from Europe, Asia and even South America, awaiting their turn on the ground to fly home.

Inflight service: better than any US airline on a 45-minute flight

We were still climbing when the flight attendant, still seated, provided her welcome address, introducing herself and welcoming us on this Airlink flight. she made special mention of elite members in Airlink’s own Skybucks program, but also elite members from United and Qatar Airways: Airlink has a strategic partnership with both, while Qatar Airways has an equity investment in Airlink. Finally she summarized the service on this flight, which would consist of a drink and a snack.

The beverage service was great, and included a variety of drinks and snacks. I took a litchi juice and some dried fruit (which turned out to be more like candy than actual fruit; other options included nuts and chips), but frankly the other choices were more compelling. The drinks were solely cold drinks because the E135 doesn’t have the equipment for anything hot, but did include beer and South African wines. I was very pleasantly surprised by this full-featured lineup!

By 1:28 the captain was back on the PA to announce we’d be descending soon, and on schedule for a 1:50pm arrival in Skukuza. He made special mention to look out the windows as we were closing in on the airport, since we might see animals during landing! Indeed, a few minutes later we started our descent.

Overall, the flight so far had been very pleasant and I was impressed by the level of service. Airlink markets its flights as being ‘full service’ and Airlink really didn’t disappoint. While the snacks were okay, I really liked the variety of drinks, and inclusions of alcoholic options, regardless of fare type. The one flight attendant was also friendly and professional.

Arrival in Skukuza

As we made our way down and we closed in on Kruger National Park, the flight attendant came by to take all of the trash. She came by about 10 minutes before touchdown, at 1:39pm, which seems late compared to procedures in the US or Europe. This didn’t seem to be any safety hazard, and maximized the time us passengers could take to finish our drinks and snacks, which I appreciated.

We made our way down and I had my eyes peeled to see if I could spot any animals from the plane, but didn’t have such luck. It was exciting to see the Kruger Park from the air, with all the shrubbery and low trees. While not a type of landscape I’ve never seen before, the wild roughness has its own beauty.

We touched down at 1:50pm and then rolled our to the opposite end of the runway, where the small terminal building is situated. Skukuza is a lovely little airport with a cute, very African-style terminal building.

We finally parked at our gate a 1:52pm, some 13 minutes before our scheduled arrivsl time. The terminal was but a short walk from the plane. We picked up our carryons, which were being taken out of the aft cargo hold, and we walked inside the terminal.

As a general point of interest, when you enter the terminal you’ll first need to fill out a park entry form, and pay any outstanding balance to the South African Parks Department (SANParks). If you’re staying at one of the private lodges, somebody will likely pick you up and assist with the form. We had self-arranged our entire itinerary, so filled out the details ourselves, which was easy to do.

Since we had already paid everything in advance (including all conservation fees), we just got a stamp and proceeded to the car rental counter to pick up our rental car. One of the attendants accompanied us to our car, and also helped us carry our suitcases, which were waiting for us in the pickup area, just beyond the car rental counter.

The service level demonstrated here is the Airlink minimum

I want to be clear that what I discussed here is not just a one-off. We flew with Airlink later on from Kruger Mpumalanga Airport MPQ to Port Elizabeth PLZ via Johannesburg JNB, and those flights were equally good. Both flights left on time and arrived early, and were characterized by a friendly and engaging crew that delivered true full service in a way that just doesn’t exist in the US or Europe, at least in economy.

For example on the flight JNB-PLZ we were provided pretty substantial and tasty sandwiches, along with a variety of drinks. Since these flights were on larger E190 series planes, drinks included tea and coffee. On these flights we also flew economy, and since we had been able to book in the Plain Sunbird fare class, we paid a mere $116.31, which still included 20kg of luggage per person and free seat selection.

So, I say that the service provided on JNB-SZK is the Airlink minimum, because clearly there are some limitations due to the E135 plane being used. When on a larger plane, the service offerings are also more substantial. But the core value, of an airline that operates reliably and provides professional service regardless of cabin class, was on display on all three legs we flew.

Summary

Overall, this was a great flight! Of course this is a short flight on a small regional jet, but with that said, Airlink did everything right that they could do: the flight left precisely on time and arrived early; the crew was friendly and professional; the service was as full-featured as it can get on a small plane like this; and the seats were perfectly comfortable. In particular, I want to again highlight the true full service that was provided, with drink options that included beer and wine. Really, this flight should be the way anybody gets to Kruger as it’s fast and convenient and allows you to maximizer your time in the park.