Airlink to resume flights to Madagascar.

Airlink is set to resume flights on the Johannesburg (JNB, South Africa) 🔄 Antananarivo (TNR, Madagascar) route on the 30th of January. Flights will begin with one weekly flight before being increased to three weekly flights. Airlink hopes to eventually ramp up service to weekly flights as demand increases. Flights will be operated using the Embrear E170 or E190, depending on demand.

Flights in the route were suspended due to a dispute between Antananarivo and Pretoria over 73.5 kilograms of smuggled gold and USD20,000 seized at Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport on December 31, 2020, from three passengers who had arrived from Madagascar on a chartered flight. The Malagasy government demanded the return of the treasure and the extradition of its nationals, now jailed in South Africa. The route to South Africa stayed closed, pending the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two nations to combat the smuggling of national resources.