Review: Airlink Embraer 135 Economy Vilankulo-Johannesburg
Intro
Aye, aye, aye, it's finally time to leave Mozambique. This place has my heart, with unbelievable fishing, a couple that took me in, and some of the kindest people I've met showing me Mozambique; ugh, I wish I could have stayed.
Of course, I don't like to leave places, but leaving Mozambique might have been one of the hardest decisions I've ever made. However, with my quest to be the youngest man to visit every country in the world, it was time to head off to Namibia. With Vilankulo being a small airport, I first had to catch a flight with Airlink from VNX over to Johannesburg.
How was Airlink? As in the past reviews from JNB-CPT, as well as the inbound from JNB-VNX, Airlink is an exceptional regional carrier. This flight was, once again, nothing short of great. With a nice snack/meal, free-flowing wine, and a swanky ride, there is a reason I say they are one of the best regional carriers in the world.
Route-Vilankulo (VNX)-Johannesburg
Seat- 9A
Flight Number- 4Z263
Aircraft- Embraer RJ135
Date- June 21st 2024
Flight Time: 1 Hour 27 Minutes
Price Paid: 453$ (2 legs)
How I Booked
Flights from a small regional airport to another small regional airport are going to be expensive, no matter what. Considering both Vilankulo and Walvis Bay don't tend to get a lot of daily flights, it means that the price was pretty extortionate for flying. For both legs, the cost came out to about 29,000 Mets (Mozambique currency) or 453 USD in economy. What can you do?
Check-In
Duarte, the fishing captain who was unbelievably nice the whole time I was there, had a day off and decided to pick me up to take me to the airport that afternoon. Vilankulo airport is one of my favorites in the world, as you realistically don't have to leave for the airport until an hour and a half before departure.
We happened to end up at the airport around two hours before departure, and Duarte mentioned there is a small restaurant across from the parking lot with cheap beer. Well, I can't say no to a couple more Machmahons 😉.
A couple of beers later, with a boarding pass in hand, it was off to head to the departure area. When I say this airport is small, there is a single line for security and a single person stamping passports. Interestingly, they only allow passengers from a single flight into this departure area at a time.
The best part: they sell beer in a little stall in the departures area (along with snacks as well). 2$ a beer in an airport isn't bad at all.
Boarding
A couple of beers later (alright, there is an ongoing trend here, I get it), our inbound plane arrived from Johannesburg.
For those interested, Airlink used to operate 10x weekly flights from JNB to VNX, with a daily Embraer 170 and 4x weekly service on this Embraer E135. However, in the past month, they have permanently cut the follow-up service, so there is a single daily flight between the two cities.
No more than ten minutes after our plane had parked at the "remote stand," it was time to board. Talk about some door-to-door service; it doesn't get much better than this.
Stepping onboard, the friendly Airlink experience greeted passengers.
The Seat/Cabin
I touched on most of the hard product details on the inbound flight, but to recap: the seats on the Embraer 135 are laid out in a 1-2 configuration in an all economy class configuration. No wifi, no IFE, and no in-seat power outlet.
The flight in itself was pretty empty. Sitting in 9A (an emergency exit row), I had a decent amount of legroom for such a small plane (37 seats).
Departure
Within a few minutes, boarding was completed, and the flight deck welcomed us onboard. Our flight today would take approximately an hour and twenty minutes from wheels up to wheels down, and supposedly would be a smooth flight.
By 4:45, we began moving right on time (there are no tugs here for push).
It's a quirky little airport, Vilankulo, as there are no taxiways. All planes looking to depart must backtaxi to either end of the runway for departure.
With a runway length of 4,923 feet, we motored off with a relatively steep climb out of Vilankulo. Aye, a certain sadness filled my mind, leaving this beautiful city. There is something special about Vilankulo, and if I had to move anywhere in the world at this moment in time, it would be Vilankulo.
Meal Service
20 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew snapped into action to provide a snack/meal and drinks to passengers.
Most of the Airlink flights that I took throughout my journey were all within the same week. While the menus have been updated since, I had already guessed what was going to be served on this flight before departure.
My guess was right- beef or chicken?
As per usual, I opted to go for a delicious glass of red wine, which happened to be a healthy pour. Additionally, the beef option and protein chips were yummy. My one wish is that Airlink would give these protein chips out individually.
The other thing I'll mention, which touches more on the Airlink experience, is how good the service was. Due to an upcoming long night in Johannesburg, I was topped off with a couple of refills of red wine. My request was always met with a smile and perhaps a small laugh.
Arrival
55 minutes after departure, the captain came on to announce that we had just begun our descent into Johannesburg. There is something peaceful about watching a sunset from a plane, but I am not quite sure how to put my finger on it exactly.
As the full moon shined brightly upon the sky, we touched down in Johannesburg 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Landings on the E135 are quite a good little bit of fun, as I imagine it's more challenging to build a landing on 135 than on 190.
From there, we had a five-minute taxi over to a remote stand near the domestic terminal. This is interesting as this wasn't a one-time occurrence. When I flew this same route 6 months later, the same exact thing happened.
All of the 23 passengers on the plane were able to deplane in record time, as within 5 minutes, we were off on the 10-minute drive over to International Arrivals. Gosh, the planes at Johannesburg are frankly spectacular. A lot of these birds were getting ready for their redeyes back to Europe and the Middle East.
Oh great, here we go again: passport control. Passport control in Johannesburg might be the end of me as when we arrived at the international arrivals; there must have been at least 200+ people (a widebody had just landed). Cool, that's not that much, right? Wrong, there were 3 officers for the whole airport. Fantastic!
Okay, I might be a little overdramatic; it's just frustrating when there are about 40 booths and only 3 officers.
45 minutes later, it was off to head out for a night to remember. I'll touch on it separately, but one of my best friends happened to be in Johannesburg for the night, and I hadn't seen him in 4 years!!!
Final Thoughts
Another very solid flight onboard Airlink from Vilankulo to Johannesburg. As I will mention again and again (and even more in the future), Airlink is a fantastic regional carrier, which I highly recommend. Their on-time track record seems to be quite good, the snack/meal is hearty, and the cabin crew is friendly. Now, if only UA would credit PQFs, hmmm.
Comments