Travel agents have picked Airlink as the easiest domestic airline to do business with in a recent poll by Travel News.
Votes were cast over December 2022, and Airlink came out the winner with 34% of the ballot. FlySafair, Lift, SAA and CemAir split the balance.
Rodger Foster, CEO and MD of Airlink, was thrilled. “Seeing Airlink’s ongoing pursuit of service excellence and customer satisfaction reflect in this important travel agency poll is immensely gratifying.”
Foster described agencies as crucial partners that played an important intermediary role in the airline’s relationship with its customers. Keeping Airlink-agency communication channels open was a top imperative, he said. “We have invested heavily in our customer call centre to ensure that we are accessible and have solutions on hand for agents to assist customers.”
He said agency satisfaction was a key component of the company’s over-arching drive for top customer service, which was reflected throughout the business.
Airlink also uses on-time performance as a measure of good service. Foster also pointed out that the carrier was recently rated the most punctual South African carrier operating at every airport it serviced.
“Customers also measure satisfaction in terms of choice and convenience, which is why we have developed an unparalleled route network and schedule, with 75 000 flights annually serving 45 destinations in 14 countries. Similarly, we have nurtured and expanded our constellation of more than 30 partnerships with the world’s leading inter-continental carriers, four of which are codeshares. Our ability to build and operate a schedule that enables seamless and convenient transfers on to and from our partners’ flights has also helped us to grow our customer base.”
Last year, three million travellers flew with Airlink. “We see this as a tremendous validation of our customer-centric ethos, especially in such a fiercely contested market where travellers have plenty of choice.
“Looking ahead, we hope the recovery of air travel demand will continue during the year ahead. We have planned some additional capacity to supply markets where there is demand for more seats. We are resuming our Madagascar services see here and plan to add more intra-Africa routes during the year, increasing our footprint and enhancing customer connectivity.”
