Emirates and Airlink have agreed a unilateral codeshare agreement giving access to more than 40 domestic and regional destinations across 12 African countries.
It comes as Emirates resumes flights to South Africa.
The expanded partnership between the two airlines means travellers to and from South Africa with Emirates will be able to transfer via Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban to fly to smaller airports with regional African carrier Airlink, which revealed a new look after its split from former franchise partner South African Airways.
These include like Bloemfontein, George, Upington, Nelspruit, Hoedspruit, Kimberley, Skukuza, Pietermaritzburg, Richards Bay, Sishen, Mthatha and Port Elizabeth, as well as destinations across southern Africa like Gaborone, Kasane, Vilanculos, Lubumbashi, Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Maseru, Antananarivo, Pemba, Tete, Maun, Victoria Falls, Walvis Bay, Maputo, Windhoek, Harare, Lusaka, Ndola, Bulawayo and Livingstone.
The airlines have promised competitive fares, combined ticketing and smooth baggage transfers for airline connections as a result of the new codeshare.
Adnan Kazim, chief commercial officer, Emirates Airline, said: “The expansion of the Emirates partnership with Airlink marks an important step forward in our relationship.
“Our new codeshare agreement enhances our service offering and flexibility for customers travelling beyond our gateways in South and southern Africa. We are committed to growing our operations in South Africa, and with the strong connection opportunities being provided collectively with Airlink we hope to help jumpstart the recovery of the local travel and tourism industry.”
He stressed that the partnership with Airline complemented its existing relationship with South African Airways, which Emirates hopes to restart as soon as the airline is back in operation.
Rodger Foster, chief executive and managing director, Airlink, said: “This exciting development is an overwhelming endorsement of Airlink. We are delighted, honoured, and privileged Emirates has chosen Airlink as its southern Africa partner.
“Emirates serves all of our source markets and together we are able to provide air access throughout Airlink’s network of destinations within southern Africa, and provide much needed connectivity, linking Africa with the world and the world with Africa.”