Quick Review: Airlink E190 Economy Johannesburg-Walvis Bay
Intro
The last and final stop on the first great African adventure: Namibia. Following a lovely morning exploring "the other side" of Johannesburg, it was time to head off to the airport. To say I was cutting it close is a bit of an understatement, as I ended up arriving at the airport an hour and a half before departure (international).
Once again, we are back on the topic of Airlink. The flight from Johannesburg to Walvis Bay was another good flight, granted I did sleep most of the way (hence a quick review). However, with an empty seat next to me and an early arrival, I can't really complain about anything.
Route-Johannesburg-Walvis Bay
Seat- 5A
Flight Number- 4Z141
Aircraft- Embraer 190
Date- June 22nd 2024
Flight Time: 2 Hour 35 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?
Johannesburg Airport
Okay, there are certain airports in the world that are just a pain in the a**, and one of them is Johannesburg; in addition, Seoul is another annoying one. Arriving at the airport, I had my boarding pass from the day before and headed straight through to immigration. To say it was backed up would be the understatement of the year, and then you have people just pushing through because "they are boarding".
It took a longgg time, but eventually I had made it through by 9:30 am, 15 minutes before scheduled boarding. Quickly running, I already knew that my gate would be a remote one (as most international Airlink flights are), so I knew it was back to the dreaded downstairs.
I just had time to pick up a quick Aero bar before the first announcement for boarding came. Let's head off to country number 98 (now 114)!
Boarding
Much like with the flight from Johannesburg to Vilankulo, we would be departing from a remote stand today. Meaning it was time to go on another bus! It was a bit more invigorating this morning as it was a morning departure, and some of the later European flights had just arrived. Up close and personal with the queen of the skies!
Due to a relatively empty load on today's flight, it only took two buses to get everyone on board this Embraer 190. By 10:00 am on the dot, our bus started moving to take us to a location where they park widebodies. Another cool sight: up close and personal with an Air France 777!
If I'm not first, I'm last; at least, that is my motto for life. Seeing as people rushed out of the bus to get on the plane, I figured I might as well wait to snap a couple of photos. However, I boarded at 10:05 am as the last person on.
All passengers seemed to be welcomed onboard with a lovely, kind smile from the flight attendant. It's the small things that Airlink does right.
The Flight
Airlink does a really good job wrapping up boarding quickly and preparing the cabin for departure. As the last one onboard, the cabin doors were closed within 5 minutes, and we pushed back 5 minutes later (3 minutes ahead of schedule.
Johannesburg taxis can occasionally be long, but this morning, we happened to be wheels up 11 minutes after pushback (not bad in my book).
Once airborne, it was about a 2 hour and 10 minute run over to Walvis Bay. Considering I had slept very little the night before, the decision was made to knock out for the remainder of the flight. If you are interested in the cabin of the Embraer 190 and more about the soft product, check out my review from Cape Town to Johannesburg (the food offered is the same as well).
Arrival
Waking up on final descent into Walvis Bay, I was greeted by the vast dunes of Namibia. My gosh, this country is unbelievably gorgeous.
We ended up touching down early, and arriving at our remote stand (no jetbridges here either) 3 minutes ahead of schedule.
Maybe it's because I'm English, but I walk really fast and happened to end up being the third person through immigration (which only had 2 desks). I was happy to find that Namibia has waved the visa fee for American tourists.
Now the next challenge: finding a taxi to Swakopmund 🤦♂️. My American tourist came out in me thinking that there would be many taxis waiting at the airport. Little did I know, there wasn't a single one...
I eventually found a guy to take me to Swakopmund for 45 USD, which I believe was a rip-off. However, with no phone battery (2%) and no other choice, it is what it is 😂.
Final Thoughts
Flying Airlink from Johannesburg to Walvis Bay was an absolute treat. Considering I had an empty seat next to me, I got some great rest, and we landed early; there isn't much more I could want from a "rest flight." Unfortunately, I didn't get to review the whole experience, but considering I already knew what to expect, I didn't feel too bad. Until next time Airlink, since it's soon time to leave Africa 😞❤️🇳🇦
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