Review of Airlink flight from Vilankulo to Johannesburg in Economy

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.

Tourism bonus is at the end, sorry about always leaving a tourism bonus, I just love to share countries and what I got up to. While flying is debatably my favourite part of a trip, I think it's cool to showcase a country. 

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. 

Routing

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 (cabin crew) 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.

YUM

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 (queue Rihanna shining bright like a diamond) 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!!!

4 Englishmen in Johannesburg, what could go wrong? Find out in the next Flight Report tourism bonus 😂

Mozambique Tourism Bonus

First up fishing. I headed out with the infamous captain Duarte for a couple of days onboard Drop Your Rods looking to catch my first black marlin (have caught all others). While we didn't get into a black marlin, we did release a sail. Here is a quick recap and photos: 

This wraps up my two days of fishing out of Vilankulo on the Bazaruto fishing grounds. While I came at the time that wasn't heavy tackle season, I still had a tremendous fishing trip with Duarte. To me, this was more than just fishing; it was a whole experience. Sure, the fishing was great, but it felt more than a business transaction, which is what most charters seem to be. In fact, it was so good that I decided to book a trip that same night to come back in November…

We caught 6 wahoo, 2 Jobfish, many Jube Jubes, and lost count of how many Cuta. In addition, we finally released a sailfish out of the pack attack we had. 

Billfish I am strictly catch and release only. However, the fish we caught went to feed families in the town of Vilankulo.

Moving on we explored a local market, and I was offered a new family basically! 

What was supposed to be a quick tour of a local market in Vilankulo soon turned out to be much more than that. From being offered food for free from the locals to being invited into somebody's home to meeting a family that was happy to take me in for however long I wanted, this is a moment I look back on to this day.

If you happen to be in Vilankulo, ask a taxi driver to take you to the local market; they know where it is.

Next up, I fell in love with this beach bar named Casbah. Came here every night after fishing. A really cool spot with free wifi (perfect for Nomad working). 

Additonally, which will play a big role later, I was bitten by a stray dog. Completely my fault as I fed it food 🤦‍♂️ and gave me a nick piercing skin. This plays a role in the return flight, as I end up leaving Namibia early and bringing an FR to this site that hasn't been seen yet! 

They are so cute though 🥺

Lastly, I stayed with a local family in Mozambique. 

There are certain places around the world where I make the decision to stay in hotels, and certain places where I decide to stay in Airbnbs. When it comes to traveling across Africa, I have learned that staying in Airbnbs is much more culturally enriching. Staying in Vilankulo with "certain names" was the best accommodation I have ever had in my life (glamping in Grenada is a close second). To me, this was more than a place to sleep; it was a place that felt like home. Cooking together, watching football together, eating together, laughing together; it was all exceptional.

We went out and watched the Portugal game (this was during the Euros) and that was a bit nuts.  

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed. Next up: Namibia!