Airlink (South Africa) (4Z, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo) plans to deploy its first three E195-E2s on its domestic route between Johannesburg O.R. Tambo and Durban King Shaka in December, in time to meet the local peak summer holiday season, according to ch-aviation research.

The first three brand new E2s, ZS-ARF (msn 19020190), ZS-BJW (msn 19020192), and ZS-LKA (msn 19020200), were delivered from Embraer in São José dos Campos U.E. Stumpf International in Brazil to Johannesburg via Cape Town International on September 23 and 27, and October 3, respectively, ADS-D data confirms.

They are the first of a batch of ten acquired through a lease agreement with Azorra, with the full fleet set to arrive by 2027. A spokesman said four more will be delivered in 2026, with the last three in 2027.

The first three 136-seaters have arrived in an all-economy class configuration, in a two-by-two cabin layout, but the rest will be delivered in a two-class configuration, he confirmed. The exact number of business class seats has not been disclosed.

This comes as Airlink provisionally posted placeholder schedules starting on January 31, 2026, for the E2s, on the following routes:

  • from January 31: 16x weekly between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth;
  • from February 1: daily between Johannesburg and Durban; and 6x weekly between Cape Town and Mbombela;
  • from February 2: 7x weekly (not daily) between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth; 6x weekly between Cape Town and Hoedspruit AFB; 5x weekly between Cape Town and Bloemfontein, and Cape Town and George;
  • from February 7: weekly between Johannesburg and Cape Town, Hoedspruit, and Mbombela.

The E2s join an Airlink fleet already numbering 68 Embraer aircraft. The regional airline expects to achieve fuel savings of up to 29% with the E2s, compared to the earlier-generation E195s it also operates, which will reduce its unit costs and emissions across its network, which covers 45 destinations in 15 countries, including St. Helena in the South Atlantic and Madagascar.