13/12/2024
Back in the dark ages Air Madagascar flew, twice weekly, between Johannesburg and Antananarivo.
If you flew internationally with Air Madagascar you qualified for big discounts on their domestic routes.
This meant that, even if you had to spend the night in Tana, getting to Nosy Be was not too expensive.
And then - they stopped flying to South Africa altogether.
This left hotels, lodges and charter boat owners in Nosy Be completely cut off from the South African tourist market.
Yes we could fly into Tana with Airlink, but then had to spend a night in Tana, purchase a VERY expensive ticket to Nosy Be and spend another night on the return leg.
MadagasCaT - spotting the gap in the market and the potential of a life saving route - approached Airlink to ask them to reintroduce their direct flight between JNB and Nosy Be.
It was a privilege and pleasure working with Rodger Foster - the CEO of Airlink, and his then CFO, Chris H***e in the negotiating process which led to MadagasCaT partnering with them to reintroduce the Johannesburg/Nosy Be route.
Rodger will be sorely missed but I am sure he would not hand his airline to just anybody.
So we welcome the incoming CEO and look forward to a smooth transition.
Thank you Rodger, and thank you Airlink, for giving us a reliable and functioning airline. Always The Freedom of the African Sky.
The outgoing CEO of Airlink reflects on being at the helm of the airline for nearly 33 years and how it has managed to survive SA’s volatile aviation industry.
