Airlink Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Airlink, the Johannesburg-headquartered airline whose fleet is all Embraer, publishes three pilot posts, and at the last check, on 3 November 2026, each was listed on its careers page with a posting expiry of 31 December 2026. Under its First Officer post in Johannesburg, pilots with little experience can apply as Cadet First Officers from 200 hours or Connect First Officers from 500 hours, on a CPL with a multi-engine instrument rating, with a Grade 12 certificate and South African citizenship; experienced First Officers need 1,000 hours, 200 of them multi-engine and 200 turbine. Captains join through the Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command posts at O.R. Tambo, from 5,000 hours with 2,000 on medium aircraft and an ATPL. A pilot short of the minimum can apply through Airlink Connect, a course with Airlink’s training partner, PTC Aviation, that the applicant pays for. The fleet is the Embraer ERJ135 and ERJ140, the E170, E190 and E195, and, since December 2025, new E195-E2s.

Is Airlink hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 3 November 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Recruiting. Cadet First Officers from 200 h and Connect First Officers from 500 h, experienced First Officers from 1,000 h (South African citizens, CPL with ME IR or more); Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command from 5,000 h; every post listed until 31 December 2026

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

The requirements above are those of Airlink’s careers page as we read it on 28 October 2026 and saw it again in search results on 3 November. The page lists three posts, a First Officer post in Johannesburg and two command posts at O.R. Tambo, each with a posting expiry of 31 December 2026, and under the First Officer post it lists two openings “for low experience First officers”: five doors in all, at four levels of experience.

• 200 hours: Cadet First Officer. A valid CPL with a multi-engine instrument rating, a Grade 12 certificate and South African citizenship, from 200 hours. SACAA’s commercial license itself asks for at least 200 hours of flight time, or 150 on an integrated course, as our South Africa guide sets out, so this is the door for a pilot fresh from training with the instrument rating; a graduate of an integrated course may need to fly the hours up to 200 first.
• 500 hours: Connect First Officer. The same license, certificate and citizenship, from 500 hours. Airlink’s own page gives 500; a job board’s copy of a Connect listing gave 1,000, so go by Airlink’s page. Airlink’s Airlink Connect sheet describes the program as the way in for pilots below its direct-entry minimum (next section).
• 1,000 hours: experienced First Officer. 1,000 hours total, with 200 on multi-engine and 200 on turbine aircraft, on a SACAA CPL, ATPL or frozen ATPL with a valid instrument rating. The two 200s are conditions within the 1,000, not hours on top of it: single-engine piston time counts toward the 1,000 but toward neither 200. Airlink does not say how it counts turbine time, so if yours is on turboprops, confirm that it counts. It also prefers “previous advance training on flight simulator training devices (FSTD)”, without saying which courses qualify.
• 5,000 hours: the command posts. Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command both ask for 5,000 hours total, 2,000 of them on medium aircraft, a valid ATPL, a valid instrument rating and a “CAA Pilot License”, which the page does not specify further; Direct Entry Command also asks for 500 hours as pilot in command on medium jets. The page does not define “medium aircraft”, so ask Airlink how it counts your types before you apply. Both posts describe the Captain’s role.
• South African citizens, for the First Officer streams. All three First Officer streams ask for South African citizenship. The command posts state no citizenship or work-permit rule, and whether pilots from abroad may apply to them is among the points we could not confirm. A license from abroad must in any case be validated or converted by SACAA, as our South Africa guide explains.
• Grade 12, for every post. Every post asks for a Grade 12 certificate (“or equivalent”, on the First Officer and command posts). None states a minimum age, a medical class or a type rating.

Entry routes

• Cadet First Officer — 200 h, valid ME IR CPL, Grade 12, South African citizens (listed under the First Officer post at Johannesburg for low-experience First Officers; posting expires 31 December 2026)
• Connect First Officer — 500 h, valid ME IR CPL, Grade 12, South African citizens (listed under the same post)
• Experienced First Officer — 1,000 h total with 200 h multi-engine and 200 h turbine, SACAA CPL, ATPL or frozen ATPL with a valid instrument rating, Grade 12, South African citizens; previous simulator (FSTD) training preferred (the First Officer post at Johannesburg; posting expires 31 December 2026)
• Airlink Connect — apply before you meet Airlink’s minimum experience; a pilot who falls short is referred to Airlink’s training partner, PTC Aviation, whose course the applicant pays for, then a final selection with Airlink in Johannesburg (Airlink Connect sheet, undated)
• Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command — 5,000 h total with 2,000 h on medium aircraft and a valid ATPL; Direct Entry Command also 500 h in command of a medium jet (both posts at O.R. Tambo; posting expires 31 December 2026)

Airlink Connect, as Airlink describes it

Airlink Connect is Airlink’s published way in for pilots who do not yet meet its minimum experience. Airlink describes it in an information sheet, “Airlink Connect: your questions answered”, which carries no date (version 3.3), and on an Airlink Connect page, both as search results showed them on 3 November 2026:

1. Apply to Airlink. You apply on Airlink’s online pilot recruitment page, and Airlink reviews your license, qualifications and experience.
2. Referral to PTC Aviation. If you do not meet the minimum experience but are eligible for Airlink Connect, Airlink refers you to its training partner, PTC Aviation, which gives you the program’s details and screens you online, with quizzes on essential aviation and operational knowledge.
3. The course, at your cost. The course runs on PTC’s fixed-base Airbus A320 simulator in Gqeberha and mirrors the EASA enhanced MCC to airline pilot standards (APS MCC) course; the applicant pays for it. The sheet describes 48 hours of training over about four and a half weeks, but because it carries no date we could not confirm that this is still the course, and it gives no price.
4. Final selection in Johannesburg. A final selection with Airlink, including a simulator assessment at its training center; a pass puts you on the shortlist for employment. If you fail it, Airlink gives PTC’s head of training full feedback and, if further training can address the shortcomings, may hold a second selection assessment.

The sheet gives Airlink’s direct-entry minimum as 1,000 hours total with 200 multi-engine and 200 turbine, and places the program below it; the careers page lists the Connect First Officer stream from 500 hours. The course is flown on an A320, not an Embraer: it trains flying as one of a crew of two to airline standards, which the Library’s multi-crew cooperation courses explains, and the sheet presents it as building the systems knowledge and operational skills expected in initial type rating training on Airlink’s Embraer fleet. Who pays for that type rating, and whether a bond applies, Airlink does not publish.

Airlink beside South African Airways

Airlink beside South Africa’s other airline on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read the hours column first. Airlink’s lowest door is 200 hours on a CPL with the instrument rating, while South African Airways’ careers page asked for 1,500 hours and a frozen ATPL at its last check, on 23 October 2026, when we found no SAA pilot vacancy dated 2026. For a new commercial pilot in South Africa, Airlink is the published door, and SAA a later one. Both ask for South African citizenship for their First Officers, so neither is a door for a First Officer from abroad.

Selection process

1. Online application on Airlink’s pilot careers page; Airlink reviews your license, qualifications and experience (careers page; Airlink Connect sheet)
2. Airlink Connect, for eligible pilots below the minimum experience: PTC Aviation’s online screening, with aviation and operational knowledge quizzes, then PTC’s course on a fixed-base A320 simulator in Gqeberha, paid by the applicant (Airlink Connect sheet, undated)
3. Final selection with Airlink in Johannesburg, with a simulator assessment at Airlink’s training center; a pass puts the candidate on the shortlist for employment (the same sheet)

Bases and fleet

Bases: Johannesburg, O.R. Tambo International Airport: the First Officer post is based in Johannesburg, and the Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command posts at O.R. Tambo (careers page, 28 October 2026) · Training: Airlink’s Training Centre of Excellence in Bonaero Park, Kempton Park, near O.R. Tambo, which trains Airlink’s own crews and maintainers and those of other airlines, with full-flight simulators for its Embraer jets (Engineering News, August 2024) · The Airlink Connect course: PTC Aviation in Gqeberha, before the final selection in Johannesburg (Airlink Connect sheet)

Fleet: Embraer ERJ135 and ERJ140 regional jets: 27 in January 2026, to be retired in the coming years as Rolls-Royce engine support ends around 2030 to 2031 (ch-aviation, 16 January 2026) · Embraer E170, E190 and E195 E-Jets (Airlink’s own aircraft pages) · Embraer E195-E2: ten new aircraft leased from Azorra (Embraer, 7 August 2025); the first three accepted in October 2025 and in service from 22 December 2025, first on Johannesburg–Durban; the rest due in 2026 and 2027, as an Airlink spokesman put it in October 2025

The fleet a new First Officer may join

Airlink flies only Embraer aircraft. Its older jets are the ERJ135 and ERJ140: ch-aviation reported in January 2026 that Airlink had 27 of them and expected to retire them in the coming years, as Rolls-Royce engine support ends around 2030 to 2031. Then come the E-Jets, the E170, E190 and E195, and the newest, the E195-E2: Airlink leases ten new ones from Azorra (Embraer, August 2025), accepted the first three in October 2025 and flew the first in commercial service on 22 December 2025, from O.R. Tambo to Durban; Airlink said at the time that the other seven would be delivered over the next two years. The posts name no aircraft type for a new First Officer, so ask at selection which fleet you would join; v1prep’s E-Jet bank covers the E-Jets and the E2, not the ERJ135 and ERJ140.

Airlink trains its crews at its own Training Centre of Excellence in Bonaero Park, Kempton Park, near O.R. Tambo, which also trains other airlines’ crews and maintainers and has full-flight simulators for its Embraer jets (Engineering News, August 2024). The Airlink Connect course itself is flown at PTC Aviation in Gqeberha.

How to prepare

Airlink flies only Embraer aircraft, so the E-Jet bank is the type preparation: it covers the E170 to the E195 and the E2, their systems, limitations and procedures. v1prep has no bank for the older ERJ135 and ERJ140, and the posts name no type for a new First Officer, so learn the E-Jet family broadly rather than one variant. Underneath, the ATPL theory banks below cover the performance, meteorology and navigation an interview draws on; they follow the EASA syllabus rather than SACAA’s, so take your SACAA papers from their own syllabus. If you go through Airlink Connect, the course runs on an Airbus A320 simulator and mirrors the airline pilot standards MCC course, so it trains flying as one of a crew of two, with briefings, callouts and a shared workload; Airlink’s sheet says it is also meant to build the systems knowledge and operational skills that initial type rating training on its Embraer fleet expects. Read the Library’s multi-crew cooperation article before you start, and expect a simulator check at the final selection. Do the paperwork first: total your logbook with the multi-engine and turbine hours on their own lines, since the experienced First Officer post counts 200 of each separately; for the command posts, total your time on medium aircraft and, for Direct Entry Command, your time in command of medium jets; and check that your instrument rating and your English proficiency endorsement are current.

Airlink has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s airline simulator assessment, since Airlink Connect ends in one, and multi-crew cooperation courses, which explains the airline pilot standards MCC course that the Connect course mirrors. For the aircraft, start with the Library’s Embraer E-Jet family and flight deck, and for the application, writing a pilot CV and application, which shows how to set out multi-engine and turbine hours. The license route from zero hours is on how to become an airline pilot in South Africa; South Africa’s other airline on our board is on South African Airways pilot requirements, the continent’s airlines are on our page of airline pilot jobs in Africa, and every airline that flies the E-Jets is on Embraer pilot jobs. Check Airlink’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Researched on 3 November 2026 from search-engine results of Airlink’s own careers page and its Airlink Connect sheet, with the careers page as we read it directly on 28 October 2026 — not from a direct read on 3 November. Confirm the vacancy is still open before you apply.
• Right-to-work wording for the command streams: the Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command posts state no citizenship or work-permit rule, so ask Airlink whether pilots without South African citizenship may apply
• Type rating and bond terms: who pays for the Embraer type rating, and whether a bond applies
• The length and cost of the Airlink Connect course with PTC Aviation today: Airlink’s Airlink Connect sheet, which carries no date (version 3.3), describes 48 hours of training on PTC’s fixed-base A320 simulator over about four and a half weeks, paid by the applicant, and gives no price
• Which Embraer type a new First Officer flies first: the posts name no aircraft type
• What the selection for direct-entry First Officers and Captains includes: Airlink publishes stages only for Airlink Connect
• Age limits and the medical class: the posts state neither

These points are not published clearly by the airline. Treat them as leads, not facts, and confirm them on the careers page: careers page.

Common questions

Is Airlink hiring pilots? Yes, at the last check, on 3 November 2026. Airlink’s careers page listed a First Officer post in Johannesburg, with Cadet and Connect First Officer streams for pilots with little experience, and Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command posts at O.R. Tambo, each with a posting expiry of 31 December 2026. Airlink warns that pilot adverts on other recruitment portals and social media are not its own, so apply through its own careers page.

How many hours do you need to fly for Airlink? 200 hours as a Cadet First Officer and 500 as a Connect First Officer, both with a CPL and a multi-engine instrument rating; 1,000 hours, 200 of them multi-engine and 200 turbine, as an experienced First Officer; and 5,000 hours, 2,000 of them on medium aircraft, with an ATPL, for the command posts, Direct Entry Command also asking for 500 hours in command of a medium jet. These are the figures on Airlink’s careers page as we read it on 28 October 2026.

Can foreign pilots fly for Airlink? Not as First Officers: the Cadet, Connect and experienced First Officer streams all ask for South African citizenship. The Accelerated Command and Direct Entry Command posts state no citizenship or work-permit rule, so ask Airlink before you apply to them; a license from abroad would also have to be validated or converted by SACAA.

What is Airlink Connect? Airlink’s way in for pilots who do not yet meet its minimum experience. You apply to Airlink; if you are eligible but short of the minimum, Airlink refers you to its training partner, PTC Aviation, which screens you online and runs a course on its fixed-base A320 simulator in Gqeberha that you pay for. A final selection with Airlink in Johannesburg, with a simulator assessment, follows, and a pass puts you on the shortlist for employment. The Airlink sheet that describes the program carries no date and gives no price.

Does Airlink require a type rating? No type rating is asked for in any of its First Officer streams, from the Cadet stream at 200 hours up, and Airlink’s Airlink Connect sheet presents its course as the preparation for the type rating training on Airlink’s Embraer fleet. Who pays for the type rating, and whether a bond applies, Airlink does not publish.