Airlink (IATA 4Z) is a full-service carrier based in South Africa, a member of the - alliance. Across the corridors catalogued here it flies 11 routes from African airports, reaching 9 destinations in 9 countries, with home hubs at Cape Town (CPT), Johannesburg (JNB). Most of these are intra-Africa and Gulf-hub business corridors. Its standard checked-baggage baseline is 23 kg, lifted by about 7 kg on diaspora and migrant-worker corridors.
At a glance
11 catalogued corridors on this site are flown by Airlink (4Z), a full-service carrier based in South Africa with no alliance membership on record, with a 23 kg checked-baggage baseline.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| IATA code | 4Z |
| Home country | South Africa |
| Alliance | - |
| Carrier type | full-service |
| Checked-baggage baseline | 23 kg |
| Diaspora / migrant baggage uplift | +7 kg |
| Hajj / Umrah charter service | No |
The 23 kg figure describes what Airlink advertises as standard in economy, not what any given ticket carries. Discounted fare families sit beneath it, and those are disproportionately the fares that set record-low cached prices. The allowance printed on the issued itinerary is the only one the check-in desk will honour.
Our notes record a possible diaspora or migrant-worker baggage uplift of about +7 kg for Airlink — an unverified figure, so confirm any extra allowance with the airline before you pack for it. Read it as a corridor-specific promotion: uplifts of this kind attach to nominated routes and fare families, are rarely honoured on a codeshare or interline segment operated by another airline, and usually exclude the deepest-discount buckets. Treat it as unconfirmed until your own booking class shows it.
Routes Airlink flies from Africa — 11 corridors
11 corridors covered on this site are flown by Airlink, reaching 9 destinations and totalling about 94 weekly departures, with block times from 1.0 h to 5.0 h. This is the African-outbound catalogue, not the airline’s global network.
| Route | Freq/wk | Block (h) | Market low (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dar es Salaam (DAR) → Johannesburg (JNB) | ~15 | ~3.5 | — |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Maputo (MPM) | ~14 | ~1.0 | $205 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Lusaka (LUN) | ~14 | ~1.8 | $464 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Windhoek (WDH) | ~14 | ~1.5 | $321 |
| Cape Town (CPT) → Windhoek (WDH) | ~7 | ~1.7 | $345 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Victoria Falls (VFA) | ~7 | ~1.5 | $265 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Port Louis (MRU) | ~7 | ~4.0 | $569 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Mahé (SEZ) | ~5 | ~5.0 | $636 |
| Cape Town (CPT) → Port Louis (MRU) | ~4 | ~5.0 | $732 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Zanzibar (ZNZ) | ~4 | ~4.0 | $494 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Antananarivo (TNR) | ~3 | ~4.5 | $691 |
The USD market-low column is the cheapest fare our Travelpayouts cache has seen on that corridor across all carriers, not a Airlink-only price; use it as a floor when comparing.
1 of those corridors is flagged as labour-migration or diaspora routes. That flag is why the baggage column matters more than the seat map on this carrier’s page: on a diaspora corridor the second checked bag, and whether it is bought online or at the counter, routinely costs more than the fare gap between Airlink and the next airline on the route.
Passenger compensation rights
1 instrument covers Airlink across most of its catalogued network: the Montreal Convention 1999, which caps liability at 1,519 SDR per passenger for baggage and 6,303 SDR for provable delay losses (ICAO limits in force since 28 December 2024). No EU261-style fixed cash compensation scheme reaches these corridors, so a long delay carries no statutory payout.
Airlink’s catalogued African routes sit outside the EU261/UK261/GACA/APPR/DOT cash-compensation schemes; the Montreal Convention still covers baggage loss and provable delay losses on any international sector.
| Regime | When it applies | Remedy for a long delay / cancellation |
|---|---|---|
| Montreal Convention 1999 | Any international itinerary — baggage and delay losses. | Compensation for lost, damaged or delayed baggage (up to 1,519 SDR per passenger) and for provable losses caused by delay (up to 6,303 SDR), limits in force since 28 December 2024. |
| Regime | When it applies | Remedy for a long delay / cancellation |
|---|
What does not cover a Airlink itinerary is worth stating plainly, because claim services will open a file regardless: EU261 — no catalogued corridor here touches an EU/EEA airport, and carrier nationality alone never triggers it, UK261 — no leg touches a UK airport, US DOT rules — no United States endpoint and Canada’s APPR — no Canadian endpoint. Filing under the wrong scheme costs weeks and ends in a rejection. Match the regulation to the departure airport and the operating carrier first, then claim.
When Airlink is the right choice
11 catalogued corridors is the practical scope of this decision: Airlink is worth choosing where it flies your corridor nonstop, where its 23 kg baseline beats the alternative, and where the schedule fits. Compare the block-time column, not only the price column.
You should choose Airlink for its included 23 kg allowance and through-checked bags on connecting itineraries; diaspora and migrant-worker travellers gain from the ~7 kg extra-baggage uplift. Compare it against the other carriers on each corridor in the route table above before booking Airlink.
The honest counter-case first. A single carrier is rarely the right answer on every corridor, and on a route where Airlink connects while a competitor flies nonstop, the competitor usually wins on total elapsed time even at a higher fare. Compare the block-time column, not just the price column, on each corridor page — the difference between a nonstop and a one-stop routing on this site’s long-haul corridors is regularly eight hours or more.
FAQ
6 questions below answer what travellers ask most often about this page’s subject, drawn from the same route, carrier, airport and fare data as everything above. Where a figure is missing from our data, the answer says so rather than estimating.
What is Airlink’s checked baggage allowance? Airlink’s checked-baggage baseline is 23 kg, normally included in its standard fares.
Is Airlink part of an airline alliance? Airlink is a member of the - alliance.
What kind of airline is Airlink? Airlink (4Z) is a full-service carrier from South Africa.
How many routes does Airlink fly from Africa? Airlink operates 11 routes from African airports catalogued here — see the list above; each links to a route guide.
Can I claim compensation on a Airlink flight? Airlink’s African routes carry no fixed cash-compensation scheme, but the Montreal Convention covers baggage loss and provable delay losses.
What is the cheapest route Airlink flies from Africa? The lowest cached fare on a corridor flown by Airlink in our weekly snapshot was about $205 on Johannesburg–Maputo (JNB-MPM) — a dated observation, not a current price; prices move with season, so search live fares before booking.
Sources
1 primary source cited on this page is regulator and government material, not secondary summaries. Each is listed with what it actually governs, so a claim on this page can be checked against the instrument it comes from. Where a value is missing from our own data we leave the cell blank rather than estimate it.
-
AirHelp — flight-compensation claims — a commercial claims service, cited as the industry explainer alongside the regulator rather than instead of it.
The sourcing rule here is simple: a regulator’s own text for anything with legal effect, and a commercial explainer only as a secondary reading beside it. Amounts stay denominated as the instrument denominates them — euro, pound, Canadian dollar, SDR — even though every fare on this site is quoted in USD, because a converted tariff is a moving number pretending to be a fixed one.
Fares on this page come from a weekly snapshot of Travelpayouts cached fares and a weekly fare-history log; frequencies, block times, baggage baselines and coordinates are this site’s own reference data. Where a value is missing we leave the cell blank instead of estimating it, which is why some tables have dashes.
Related
- Cape Town airport (CPT) — Cape Town International, South Africa: 7 catalogued departure corridors and 1 arrival corridor.
- Johannesburg airport (JNB) — O.R. Tambo International, South Africa: 39 catalogued departure corridors and 6 arrival corridors.
- Flights to Madagascar — country landing page: 3 catalogued corridors from African airports, carriers, visa row and the USD fare floor we have on file.
- Flights to Mauritius — country landing page: 4 catalogued corridors from African airports, carriers, visa row and the USD fare floor we have on file.