CEO of Airlink, Rodger Foster, has distinguished himself as one of three South Africans ever to be awarded the Brazilian National Order of the Southern Cross, the highest Brazilian decoration awarded to citizens of other countries. The other two South African citizens to have been admitted are Thabo Mbeki, former President of South Africa, and Albie Sachs, former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
The award was made in recognition of his active role in strengthening business ties between Brazil and South Africa in aviation.
The Ambassador of Brazil to South Africa, Sérgio França Danese, delivered the decoration on January 10 in a ceremony held at the Airlink Training Centre.
In his acceptance speech, Foster reminisced on Airlink’s 20-year successful relationship with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, Embraer. He said: “Testament to the reliability of our Embraer fleet and the dedication of our entire team, Airlink is consistently ranked as South Africa’s most punctual airline by Airports Company South Africa, based on its daily performance monitoring. In 2021 we achieved a 97,3% average on-time performance.”