Airlink will launch a lodge-link system of scheduled flights that will feed from Skukuza Airport and Kruger Mpumalanga International Airportto a number of luxury lodges in the Kruger Park – a first for lodge connectivity, Rodger Foster, Airlink CEO told Tourism Update.
Guests travelling from anywhere in the world will now be able to fly in to a number of luxury lodges in the Kruger on a single ticket. The tickets will be bookable through the Global Distribution System as each lodge will receive an International Air Transport Association designated code, which will be added to the GDS inventory and sold globally.
“This is really a gateway for the leisure market, where international tourists will have greatly increased access into the Kruger, and these lodges are brought into communication with Skukuza, on to Johannesburg and Cape Town and effectively the rest of the world,” Foster said.
Londolozi and Singita would receive their own services, while the enclave of Sabi Sand lodges in the west would receive flights at one runway in the area, still to be decided on, and a similar practice would be undertaken for an enclave of lodges in the north, Foster said.
Airlink has already taken delivery of four Cessna 208B Grand Caravans which are being ferried to South Africa and are expected to arrive between Monday and Wednesday next week. Foster said services were envisaged to begin in mid-July.
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“There are lodges close to Skukuza that can be reached via road transfers, but we recognised the requirement for a more feasible way to access lodges that are further away from the airport, and therefore we consummated the idea of the lodge-link system.”
