Eswatini Airlink was a

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

based in

Matsapha Matsapha is a town in central Eswatini. The Matsapha urban boundary is defined in the Urban Government Act of 1969, as amended in 2012, and covers an area of approximately . Matsapha was established as an industrial park in 1965 and was officially ...

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

, and was the flag carrier of that country.

History

Eswatini Airlink was formed as a joint venture company between the Swaziland Government (60%) and

Airlink Airlink (previously known as South African Airlink) is a regional airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to of ...

(40%) to take over operations from Royal Swazi National Airways Corporation (RSNAC), the previous flag carrier of Eswatini. Swaziland Airlink started operations in July 1999 with a leased

Fokker F28 The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokk ...

aircraft from RSNAC linking

Matsapha Airport Matsapha Airport is an airport located near Manzini, a city in Manzini District in the center-west of Eswatini. It serves flights of the Eswatini Government and mercy flights. History Although a new airport for Manzini, King Mswati III Int ...

with

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and

Dar-es-Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

. In June 2000, the

was replaced with a

BAe Jetstream 41 The British Aerospace Jetstream 41 is a turboprop-powered feederliner and regional airliner, designed by British Aerospace as a stretched version of the British Aerospace Jetstream, Jetstream 31. Intended to compete directly with 30-seat aircr ...

aircraft. Swaziland Airlink became Eswatini Airlink after the country's name was changed. The airline ceased operations on June 1, 2022.

Destinations

Eswatini Airlink served the following destinations as part of

Fleet

Eswatini Airlink did not maintain a dedicated fleet at the time of closure. Flights were operated under Airlink's AOC as part of the

schedule using or aircraft. Eswatini Airlink previously operated the

, and

Embraer ERJ-135 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ 135 (37 passengers), ERJ 140 (44 passengers), and ERJ 145 (50 passen ...

under their own AOC.

References

External links

Official website
{{Airlines of Eswatini Defunct airlines of Eswatini Airlines established in 1999 Airlines disestablished in 2022 Airlines formerly banned in the European Union 1999 establishments in Swaziland