Qantas Adds Airlink Codeshares

Qantas will codeshare with Airlink, a South African airline based in Johannesburg. This means you’ll be able to fly from Sydney to Johannesburg with Qantas, and connect onwards to nine South African cities on Qantas flight numbers.

When flying on a Qantas flight number, frequent flyers can earn Qantas points and status credits as they would for a regular Qantas flight. It also makes it easier for Qantas to sell through-bookings from Australia to other destinations in South Africa beyond Johannesburg, and opens up the possibility to book Airlink flights using Points Plus Pay.

At this stage, Qantas hasn’t specified whether codeshare customers would be entitled to lounge access or other frequent flyer benefits when travelling on Airlink services.

Qantas already has interline agreements with Airlink and South African Airways, meaning passengers can get luggage checked through when connecting between Qantas and both airlines on non-codeshare flights, provided all flights are on the same ticket. This benefit will of course continue to apply to customers booked on these new codeshares.

The Qantas codeshare flights on Airlink went on sale yesterday, with bookings available for travel from late October 2024. Bookings are available in conjunction with a Qantas flight between Australia and South Africa.

Qantas codeshare routes operated by Airlink

So far, Qantas codeshares are available on the following Airlink routes:

Pending regulatory approval, Qantas also hopes to add codeshares to Airlink international routes between Johannesburg and other southern African destinations in the coming months.

What is Airlink?

Airlink is a regional South African airline with a fleet of 66 Embraer regional aircraft. Although the airline was established in 1992, it has grown significantly in recent years to fill the void left by the collapse of Comair and Kulula Airlines, as well as the significant downsizing of South African Airways.

Qantas used to offer connections beyond Johannesburg on Comair, which is a Oneworld affiliate airline operating under the British Airways brand.

Qatar Airways recently purchased a 25% stake in Airlink. This is the same stake that Qatar Airways has just announced it intends to purchase of Virgin Australia.

Qantas upgrades Sydney-Johannesburg flights to Airbus A380

This week, Qantas also flew its Airbus A380 to Johannesburg for the first time! Qantas will now use the A380 going forward on flights QF63 and QF64 between Sydney and Johannesburg, replacing the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. Until 2020, this route had been operated using Boeing 747s.

The much larger aircraft also comes with lots more premium cabin seating. That’s great news for frequent flyers looking to use their points for a Classic Reward flight or upgrade to or from South Africa. At the moment, Qantas even has a bit of reward seat availability to South Africa in First Class!

Qantas says that it also intends to relaunch Perth-Johannesburg flights in mid-2025, “subject to meeting border agency requirements”. Despite strong demand, Qantas previously axed this route following a dispute with Perth Airport.

South African Airways has since picked up the Perth-Johannesburg route again, and will soon add additional weekly services. South African Airways is a Velocity Frequent Flyer partner.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.