Airlink

Not Verified | Johannesburg to Hoedspruit. My wife was diagnosed with cancer and required urgent surgery so we needed to cancel our 2 internal flights which came to a total of £420 [ZAR8400]. I emailed Airlink customer services and they told me they required proof which was understandable. I forwarded them a letter from the hospital confirming her admission, a letter from the surgeon explaining that surgery was required urgently and that travel was not possible, but they said that this was not adequate information provided and that we would not qualify for a refund. I was so shocked by their replies, was made to feel like a liar, when we had more serious things to deal with. Would strongly avoid Airlink as they are non-sympathetic, poor customer service, and frustrating to deal with.

✅ Trip Verified | No sympathy for a customer at all. I flew from Durban to Johannesburg had a layover of 2h 15mins before flying to Angola. I had a negative covid results from a government clinic, had sma confirming my results, only to be told that was not allowed. I had to call the lab to send me one with a QR code. While we were waiting for results, the boarding pass closed. Later i asked if they can assist they told me i was supposed to change dates an hour before, but they never suggested that to me, then when i emailed them later, they told me the staff suggested i change the dates and I refused. I did admit I didn't know that covid results wasn't allowed, as at clinic they assured me it was ok. Customer care is worse. I wouldn't suggest anyone to fly with this airline.

✅ Trip Verified | On their website they state that they allow one free date change due to covid. I reached out to them 8 days prior to my flight to make the change (since my previous flight was changed too) and they initially confirmed that I can do so for free, just pay the difference in fare. When I accepted it and asked them to proceed with the payment they went completely silent. No response to my emails that I sent daily. No one answered phone calls! 36 hours prior to my flight I made the change myself, paid outrageous difference since the flight was so close and also paid the penalty fee. Reached out to Airlink and asked for the refund, and they did not reply again!

Not Verified | What a mission it was to get hold of Airlink to change our tickets! Due to testing positive for Covid, our travelling plans had to change drastically. I held the line for Customer Service for 40 minutes until a rude lady picked up on the other end, sighing with every question I had. Then came the public holiday so we couldn’t make any name changes or add a minor by ourselves on the website. Luckily I got hold of a very friendly lady the next day to help add a minor, but I still had to send an email for the name change. I phoned Customer Care on Friday at 15:50 and by 16:30 I got cut off. Still no reply to my email (with the address given as the emergency contact). It is the weekend now and Customer Care is closed. How could this be? With Covid we have learned that anything could change any minute, what should a passenger do if they have to change their flight details? Get on the flight even though they have Covid just because they couldn’t change everything on the website and don’t want to loose their money? Come on, Airlink, you could do a lot better to assist passengers affected by Covid.

✅ Trip Verified | Understaffed and poor internal communications - lost essential baggage for a short business trip. I recently made a business trip to Cape Town for a conference. One of my bags therefore contained marketing material (rollup banners). I checked these bags in in Maputo, they were treated as normal hold baggage. I was advised that I needed to collect the bags in person at Johannesburg airport and re-check them in for the leg to Cape Town. Upon arrival at Johannesburg, the bag containing the banners did not appear - either at the carousel or the fragile/oversized baggage counter. When I attempted to make a baggage claim, the SA Airlink baggage claim desk was unstaffed. I therefore had to pass through customs and look for another desk. The transit desk was also unstaffed. I reached the main ticket office, which was fully staffed, however the staff there would not assist me, and sent me to a check in counter. The staff at the check in counter tried to phone their colleagues in the baggage team, however there was no answer. As my connecting flight was due to board, the staff member advised me to rush through security in order to reach the boarding gate. She promised to try to find the bag. I asked her for my claim number, however she stated that I should send an email to report my claim. I asked her why she herself could not send an email, at which point she stated that she could not help me further, since she did not have a computer. As I boarded the flight I asked the gate staff if my bag had been found but she was not interested and just wanted to get people on board. Upon arrival in Cape Town, again I tried to contact SA Airlink staff to discover if the bag had been found, however there were no SA Airlink staff in the whole airport. Upon arrival at my hotel I received a call that the bag had been found in Johannesburg, and was probably at Cape Town airport. However there were no staff there to confirm. I was given a number to call early the next morning. I called it multiple times, however it never answered. Late in the morning I got through to a number in Johannesburg, where a staff member admitted that they were having difficulty contacting the Cape Town airport branch and promised to call me back. On this day, I had to attend the conference at which I needed to display the banners. I ended up having to get alternative (inferior quality) banners printed up in Cape Town, in order to use at the conference. SA Airlink only confirmed that the banners had been found, at the end of the day, when it was too late to be of use. Despite the fact that some of the HQ staff I spoke to were pleasant and seemed to be trying to help, overall this was a nightmare. Two things became clear: a) SA Airlink save money by not having a full complement of staff at the airports - this means that there is no one to assist the passenger in case of problems b) The ground staff appear to be very unhappy and disgruntled, if you have any problem at all they just "don't want to hear about it". The aircraft itself was clean and the onboard snacks were OK, and the flights left nearly on time. So really this airline's weak point is lack of ground staff, poor attitude of ground staff, and poor internal communications.

✅ Trip Verified | Johannesburg to Cape Town. What a really nice flight. Very comfortable seats, on time and very pleasant crew. As a South African taxpayer, I'm so glad I'm not having to pay twice for the same trip as is the way with state owned airlines here. Keep up the good work Airlink.

Not Verified | Worst service today, booked flight for a unaccompanied minor (10 years old), arrived at OR Tambo 2hours before checkin, had all the necessary documentation but was delayed by the airline staff to fill health questionnaires, my brother was then checked in but left by the flight and they did not bother to communicate as to what transpired instead they are saying we arrived late and should have been at the airport 3hours before.

✅ Trip Verified | What a lovely experience! I hope I can use Airlink all the time. Everything from reservation, online check in, bag drop, boarding, punctuality and the friendly professional service on board made the whole journey a relaxing pleasant experience. The covid-19 protocol was very good - ensuring social distancing. The seats are very comfortable and my husband who sat next to me had enough leg room. The only downside [for me with limited financial means] was the price of the ticket, but it was such a treat to use Airlink that I will start saving just to be able to use them again.

✅ Trip Verified | I had to change my children’s ticket because of changing COVID gov changed regulations and then when they were due to fly I had to change the tickets again as riots broke out in South Africa. South African Airlink profited from the above by forcing us to pay for new tickets. Then when an international airline had a late arrival and my children missed the Aairlink domestic flight, Airlink forced them to buy new tickets.

✅ Trip Verified | Avoid at all costs. If flying with Airlink, this airline does not communicate with its customers so beware of gate changes, and boarding time changes. They have terrible customer service and rude / unprofessional employees at their gates and flights. Speaking to their "marketing and customer relations officer" was like speaking to a machine reading hidden policies.