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Great news for Cape Town travellers looking for a tropical escape exploring the beaches, spice markets and historic streets of Zanzibar.
Regional airline Airlink has announced that it will launch the first-ever non-stop service between Cape Town and Zanzibar from October 2026. Even better? You can expect to fly in comfort on Airlink’s brand-new Embraer E195-E2 aircraft on the weekly route.
Flights leave Cape Town at 8.15am, arriving in Zanzibar at 2.30pm (local time, which is one hour ahead of South Africa). The return flight leaves Zanzibar at 3.30pm, touching down in Cape Town at 8.50pm.
And round of applause to Airlink for those departure times… routes to East Africa are often timed to arrive and depart late at night, and this schedule means you can avoid the bleary-eyed midnight departures and pre-dawn arrivals that often come with island escapes in the region.
The new route is Airlink’s second service to Zanzibar, coming hot on the heels of the upcoming launch of Johannesburg-Zanzibar flights on 3 June 2026.
And, here’s a gift: any Cape Town travellers already holding Airlink tickets for Cape Town-Johannesburg-Zanzibar itineraries will be able to switch to the new non-stop flight at no extra charge, provided the change is within the same cabin.
Airlink will fly the route with its new Embraer E195-E2 jets, configured with 124 seats across two cabins. As with all Airlink flights, Economy-class seats are in a 2-2 configuration, meaning there are no middle seats, and passengers are seated either at the window or aisle.
“The introduction of our new flagship aircraft, the E195-E2, with its innovative business class and comfortable economy seats, enables Airlink to bring destinations such as Zanzibar within convenient non-stop reach of Cape Town, which is an important source market for travel to the island,” said Airlink CEO de Villiers Engelbrecht. “Cape Town is also our second hub and a popular connecting point for long-haul, regional and local customers travelling with Airlink or any of our partner airlines from around the world.”
Known for its wide sandy beaches, coral reefs, spice heritage and UNESCO-listed Stone Town, Zanzibar has long been a favourite Indian Ocean escape for South African travellers.
But, there is some bad news.
While South African travellers can apply for an electronic visa online before arrival, or obtain a visa on arrival, that visa will set you back US$50.
The Tanzanian government has also introduced compulsory government-issued travel insurance for all foreign visitors to Zanzibar. This must be bought through the official Zanzibar Insurance Corporation inbound travel insurance portal, for US44 per person.
So, an adult South African leisure traveller needs to budget US$94 per person in compulsory visa and insurance costs. At a rough exchange rate of R18.50 that is about R1740 per adult, before you can even start to dream of an island escape.
Zanzibar route caps a busy year for CPT
The Zanzibar launch adds to a growing list of new routes and frequency increases into Cape Town. LATAM is set to open a direct São Paulo-Cape Town service from 2 July 2026, with three weekly flights linking the Mother City directly with South America for the first time.
Virgin Atlantic has also announced plans to boost its London Heathrow-Cape Town schedule to 11 weekly flights for the 2026/27 summer season.
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